The political action committee of the Nebraska Farmers Union—NEBFARMPAC—announced on Thursday its endorsement of Dan Osborn for US Senate in the 2026 general election, over incumbent Republican Pete Ricketts.
This marks a reversal for NeFU, which did not back Osborn during his run for Senate in 2024, opting then to endorse his opponent—incumbent Republican Sen. Deb Fischer.
Osborn, a former labor leader from Omaha running as an Independent, was joined Thursday in Syracuse, Nebraska, for the announcement by John Hansen, the NeFU’s president since 1989 and the current secretary of its PAC.
“Agriculture is in an economic hole. It’s a man-made hole. If you don’t like the hole you’re in, stop digging and stop electing the people who dig the hole for you,” Hansen said. “The rule in management: If things are going good, stay the course. When things go in the tank, make changes.”
Speaking about the endorsement reversal, Hansen said Fischer was working with NeFU on legislation in the lead up to the 2024 general election. NeFU endorsed Ricketts’ opponent that year also—Democrat Preston Love Jr.
Hansen described the current state of the agriculture economy as perilous, pointing to Nebraska farmers losing money on corn and soybeans for multiple years, rising input costs, and generational family-owned farms being “washed out” of business.
“We are going to very aggressively pursue a course correction to stop digging this hole any deeper,” Hansen said before endorsing the 51-year-old steamfitter for US Senate, adding that his nonpartisan status resonates with his PAC’s board and praising his stance on campaign finance reform.
Osborn took the endorsement opportunity to detail a new “plank” of his campaign’s “Growth and Fairness Plan,” this one he dubbed “Fight like Hell for Rural Nebraska.”
In line with Osborn’s working-class platform, his plan advocates for limiting foreign ownership of farmland in the state, breaking up corporate consolidation in the meatpacking industry (naming Tyson and JBS Foods as examples of the trend), addressing rural healthcare access, protecting natural resources from data center development, passing strong right-to-repair laws (naming John Deere as an obstacle), and—perhaps most ambitiously—withholding paychecks from Congress members until a new farm bill is passed.
The farm bill—which governs US policy regarding agricultural, food, and conservation—is typically passed by Congress every five to six years. It last passed in 2018 and has been extended three times since 2023. The latest extension keeps critical programs—like crop insurance, disaster assistance, etc.—running through September 30, 2026. The House passed their version of the farm bill in April, with the Senate’s Agriculture Committee releasing its draft version in June.
Questions remain on the viability of the current farm bill draft, as it does not address concerns from Democrats about cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program as dictated by President Donald Trump’s signature budget reconciliation bill: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB).
“We are in the middle of a farm crisis… and it was started by the very same politicians that continue to enrich themselves while in office,” Osborn said, arguing that Ricketts is compromised by corporate donations and has failed to advocate sufficiently for a new farm bill’s passage.
Osborn, however, did praise Nebraska’s Republican Governor Jim Pillen signing an executive order this week that rescinds tax incentives for new data centers in the state.
In a follow up with Courier Nebraska, when asked about the wave of rural Nebraska counties advancing data center moratoriums, Osborn elaborated that he believes the federal government ought to exercise more regulatory control over data center projects, “to ensure transparency about power usage, water usage, and environmental damage.”
“We have to protect our resources,” Osborn said. “Taking a step back and thinking this through is absolutely what we should be doing right now.”
At the press event, Osborn also announced his campaign’s forthcoming tour of Nebraska’s 93 counties, vowing to visit each one by this November.
Osborn’s campaign says the circuit will be the first public 93-county tour in Nebraska political history. It’ll kick off in Lancaster County with a rally in Lincoln, set for Monday, August 3, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the IBEW Local 265 Union Hall (1409 Old Farm Rd).
In a statement, Vern Jantzen, president of NeFU’s PAC, encouraged voters to participate in the tour and voice their concerns.
“We cannot complain that our public officials are out of touch and are not willing to listen to us, and then not appreciate and support candidates that do listen,” Jantzen said.
“Go get ‘em,” Hansen told Osborn. “I just can’t wait to knock on your door in Congress and bug you about what you could be doing to help our family farmers and ranchers.”
Founded in 1913, NeFU is the second-largest general farm organization in the state representing nearly 4,000 farm and ranch family members. The Nebraska Farm Bureau is the largest, boasting membership of more than 55,000.
Osborn said the full itinerary of his 93-county tour would be updated on his website osbornforsenate.com.
