WASHINGTON (DTN) -- The latest Senate farm bill text released ahead of Thursday's committee markup includes a year-round extension of E15, major small refinery exemption (SRE) reforms and a one-year SNAP cost-share extension.

The revisions, among more than 80 pages of other changes, seek to align the Senate bill more closely with the House-passed version.

"Members on both sides of the aisle will find their priorities reflected in this bill. It also responds to concerns that states need additional time to strengthen administration of SNAP benefits and reduce payment error rates with a commonsense solution," Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., said in a news release.

Much of the new text remained behind closed doors before its release to Democrats, commodity groups and the public late on Friday.

Boozman scheduled the committee markup for Thursday, Aug. 6, at 9:30 a.m. EDT.

But the text no longer has the same coalition of support for E15. The American Petroleum Institute opposed the E15 language over the weekend, breaking its lockstep with the National Corn Growers Association.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, among other hunger organizations, also criticized its lack of a two-year extension of SNAP state cost sharing because the proposal only delays state's paying penalties until 2028.

Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., responded to the release, saying, "I look forward to working on the details of a bipartisan Farm Bill that can pass on the Senate floor as it will need both Republican and Democratic support. Senate Ag Democrats have been clear that a Farm Bill must meet the needs of both farmers and families across America."

The draft also includes mandatory fertilizer reporting by manufacturers and wholesalers. The Fertilizer Institute asked the committee in May to find alternative solutions, but the full text of the Fertilizer Transparency Act of 2026 was included.

E15 AND SMALL REFINERY EXEMPTIONS

The E15 and SRE provisions were welcomed by corn and renewable fuels groups, although the original alliance between oil and crop commodity groups has since fractured.

Under the proposal, the process for granting small refinery exemptions would be replaced beginning in 2027.

The Environmental Protection Agency would be required to resolve outstanding SRE petitions by October 2028 and reallocate most exempted renewable fuel obligations to other refiners. The new system would replace annual petitions with a fixed compliance reduction based on historical oil production data.

Small independent refiners, often represented by the Small Refineries of America, have yet to issue a public statement.

However, one official in the refining industry that spoke with DTN on the terms of anonymity said, "They (small refiners) see this as a better solution to the House bill. Ideally, it would be great to have something that does not divide the industry. But to go from a threat to having to close some facilitates to having those exempt, is lifesaving."

The bill would also restore certain renewable identification numbers (RIN) credits for small refineries that retired credits while 2016-18 SRE petitions were pending or later denied.

The proposal would allow refineries averaging up to 75,000 barrels of oil production per day to qualify as small refineries eligible for compliance reductions. However, any refinery that does not meet the small refinery definition in 2028 or a later year would permanently lose eligibility for future compliance reductions.

This is where larger refiners, represented by the American Petroleum Institute, object. While API supports year-round E15, it opposes provisions that would limit SRE eligibility and require remaining obligated parties to absorb additional renewable fuel obligations from exempted volumes.

In a statement, API Senior Vice President of Government Relations Kristin Whitman said, "The proposal included in the Senate Farm Bill fails to deliver that balanced approach, replacing it with flawed provisions that weaken America's fuel supply instead of providing the long-term certainty consumers, farmers, biofuel producers and refiners need. API opposes this proposal and urges Congress to reject it."

The proposal could help secure support from Republican senators representing independent oil-producing states during both the committee markup and eventual floor consideration.

Majority of farm group statements looked toward the future after a successful markup.

"We urge Congress to get a five-year farm bill across the finish line this year," the American Soybean Association said in a statement.

NEW DYNAMICS

The E15 proposal would establish permanent nationwide access to E15 and require EPA to update E15 labeling and underground storage tank rules within 18 months.

The changes are intended to increase domestic ethanol demand, which supporters view as the next step following passage of the legislation.

But over the weekend, some Trump supporters criticized Republican senators online for discussing E15 and the farm bill, arguing other priorities, including the SAVE America Act, should come first.

Election integrity legislation requiring voter identification passed the House in July but faces resistance in the Senate, where Republicans have questioned whether it has enough support to advance.

The Senate is expected to vote this week on a continuing resolution to fund the government through Dec. 11. The August recess is expected to start on Friday with lawmakers scheduled to return Sept. 14 with a limited fall agenda that includes full-year appropriations, supplemental farm aid, nominations and, if time allows, a farm bill.

ADDED PROVISIONS: FERTILIZER REPORTING

The draft also includes the Fertilizer Transparency Act of 2026, which would establish mandatory fertilizer reporting.

Fertilizer manufacturers and wholesalers would report weekly prices for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and fertilizer products, along with quantities manufactured and marketed, to USDA.

USDA would publish aggregated national and regional data while keeping individual company information confidential. Agricultural cooperatives and fertilizer retailers that are not manufacturers would not be required to report but could voluntarily submit data.

In May, The Fertilizer Institute testified that the bill needed improvements. The group claimed the legislation "would place differential burdens on the many parts of the fertilizer supply chain, potentially advantaging foreign producers over domestic production and supply, and would not provide accurate price transparency as sought."

DTN reached out to TFI for comment on its inclusion and on whether changes were made to the earlier released bill text.

Other additions include grassland cost-share payments, agricultural grants for veteran education and training, forestry data tracking, community college agriculture grants and a study on barriers to USDA programs for organic producers.

ONE-YEAR COST SHARE ENOUGH?

One provision that could help make Thursday's Senate farm bill markup bipartisan is the one-year delay in SNAP state cost sharing.

Beginning in fiscal year 2029, states with SNAP payment error rates of 6% or higher would begin contributing -- delaying the One Big Beautiful Bill proposal by one year. Starting in fiscal year 2031, states with error rates of 10% or higher would pay 20% of benefit costs, offsetting lost near-term federal savings from the one-year delay.

The proposal would give states additional time to prepare for the new costs. Democrats had sought a mix of one- or two-year delay, making it unclear whether the proposal will satisfy Democratic lawmakers.

The National Governors Association and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities have argued that the cost-share requirement should be delayed until 2030.

Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said on social platform X over the weekend, "To be clear: it does not give states any more time to lower the costs they will face by reducing errors, only more time until the bill comes due."

While states would have more time to prepare, Parrott said, "it will still be based on error rates for this fiscal year, which is nearly over. States won't be able to lower their costs even if they achieve what cost shift proponents say they want moving forward -- reduced errors."

She said an unfolding hunger crisis makes the cost shift an important first step. "Kids in this country deserve better," she said.

Markup Hearing Video Link and Final Text: https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/…

Section by Section Farm Bill Summary: https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/…

Jake Zajkowski can be reached at jake.zajkowski@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @jzajkow

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