United States House Committee on Agriculture

Missouri's 4th Congressional District race pits two-term Republican incumbent Mark Alford, a former TV anchor serving on House Armed Services and Appropriations committees, against Democrat Jordan Herrera, an Air Force veteran and Missouri assistant attorney general, and Libertarian Thomas Holbrook. Alford campaigns on an America First platform, border enforcement and reduced federal spending, while Herrera emphasizes economic security, healthcare access and limiting government regulation of personal life. Holbrook opposes gerrymandering and tariffs. The district's boundaries remain contested: the 2022 map, used for this election, covers west-central Missouri, while a newer 2025 map used for the primary would shift Kansas City into the district instead of District 5.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture voted 11-10 on Aug. 6 to block H.R. 7567, known as "Farm Bill 2.0," from advancing to the full Senate floor. The bill includes bipartisan-backed provisions for rural broadband, soil and water conservation, year-round sale of E-15 ethanol fuel, and country-of-origin labeling for meat products — measures Kansas farm groups say would meaningfully benefit the state's agriculture sector, particularly corn growers.

The sticking point is SNAP: the bill sets a timeline for penalties on states with food-stamp error rates above 6%, a provision tied to earlier changes under President Trump's tax and spending law. Republicans on the committee offered states two-and-a-half years to comply; Democrats wanted three-and-a-half years, and all Democrats voted against advancing the bill. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) called the Democratic position unreasonable, while Senate candidate Adam Hamilton criticized Marshall for leaving producers without certainty. Kansas Farmers Union's Nick Levendofsky hopes for a compromise. Lawmakers are expected to revisit the SNAP dispute in September.