Federal Legislation Reopening U.S. Government Enacted; Includes Language Supporting USDA Aerial Application Research

A vote to end the record-long 43-day U.S. government shutdown passed last night and was signed by President Trump. The legislation keeping the government open will expire January 30, 2026, hopefully giving time for certain House and Senate Appropriations Committees time to finish their Fiscal Year 2026 bills. The 2026 Fiscal Year runs from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026.

In addition to the standard continuing resolution language that punts the funding deadline, the measure includes a legislative package to fund the Department of Agriculture and the FDA, the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction projects, and the operations of Congress for the entire 2026 fiscal year. This is good news because the legislation includes within its committee report—thanks to NAAA’s policy advocacy efforts—language supportive of the Aerial Application Technology Research Unit (AATRU) within USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS). The supportive language reads as follows:

Aerial Application — The Committee recognizes the importance of aerial application to control crop pests and diseases and to fertilize and seed crops and forests. Aerial application is useful not only to ensure overall food safety and food security, but also to promote public health through improved mosquito control and public health application techniques. The Committee urges ARS to prioritize research focused on optimizing aerial spray technologies for on-target deposition and drift mitigation and to work cooperatively with the Environmental Protection Agency to update their pesticide review methodology.

NAAA has been successful in including this language and support for federally funded aerial application research in federal agricultural appropriations bills for over a quarter of a century. The language sends a clear signal to the USDA to keep the program alive and well.