For U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., Washington, D.C., may have been his workplace for the past 26 years, but the farm has always been home.
A sixth-generation farmer, Graves has spent more than two decades balancing two demanding roles: serving in Congress and helping run his family’s Missouri farming operation. After announcing in March that he would not seek re-election, Graves is preparing for a new chapter, and one that will likely include more time in the field and less time on Capitol Hill.
But before leaving Washington, Graves says there is still work to finish and plenty to reflect on, including the challenges facing American agriculture, the importance of bipartisan cooperation and the responsibility of representing rural America.
“I’m sixth-generation farmer, my son’s seventh generation, and so we’ve been around a while,” Graves says.
During harvest, Graves makes a point of returning home as often as his congressional schedule allows. His brother, son, nephews and father are all involved in the operation, making farming a family effort that spans generations.
“I come home as often as I can to help out and when we don’t have something going on,” Graves says. “But I try to take the fall to just spend time here and working. And working with my brother, my son, my nephews are all part of the operation. And of course, Dad is as well.”
That includes his father, Bruce, known around the farm as Poppy. At 92 years old, Bruce Graves is still running the combine during harvest.
When asked what he does, his answer reflects a lifetime in agriculture.
“I raise corn, soybeans, and politicians, lawyers, and good farm wives,” Bruce says.
The father of four says he and his wife are proud of their children, including the son who went on to serve in Congress. His advice to Sam has remained straightforward: “Work hard, study hard, be kind to people and look out for everybody, not just yourself.”
Bruce says his son has followed that advice, staying grounded despite a career that has kept him in the nation’s capital for more than two decades.
Agriculture’s Waning Voice in Washington
Graves’ decision not to seek re-election means Congress will lose one of its remaining members with firsthand experience operating a farm.
Today, only an estimated 1% to 2% of Americans have a direct connection to farming or ranching. Graves says that growing disconnect makes it increasingly difficult to explain agriculture’s needs to lawmakers who may have little understanding of how food makes its way from the farm to the grocery store.
“Somebody will come along eventually, but the hardest thing with agriculture in Washington is just explaining it,” Graves says. “We have far too many people that their only idea of agriculture is the grocery store, and then they don’t even have an understanding of how that food got there. You know, what processes it went through to get there. They have no idea.”
Graves says that disconnect also affects how lawmakers view farm policy and the safety net provided to producers.
He points to differences between the way the United States supports agriculture and how other countries approach food subsidies. In the U.S., support is directed toward farmers and production, rather than primarily subsidizing food prices at the grocery store. And he says if farmers aren’t protected, national security is at risk.
“When we are supporting agriculture, we support the farmers themselves and support it in the field, as opposed to other countries, which subsidize the food in the grocery store,” Graves says. “But if you don’t do that, if you don’t have that safety net and that level playing field, then you’re going to lose your farmers and you’re going to lose your food supply.”
For Graves, making that distinction clear to lawmakers remains one of agriculture’s biggest challenges.
Finding Common Ground in a Divided Congress
While agriculture policy has often become caught in the broader political divide in Washington, Graves says compromise is still possible.
This fall, the Senate farm bill vote highlighted the partisan challenges surrounding agricultural legislation. But Graves points to his work as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee as an example of how lawmakers can find common ground.
He helped lead efforts on the Water Resources Development Act of 2026, which received broad bipartisan support. Graves says that kind of cooperation has been common in his committee.
“For the most part, when we pass a bill out of committee in transportation, it’s always a very bipartisan vote,” Graves says. “In fact, we just had the highway bill that came out, and we only had two no votes out of 65 members on the committee. One was a Democrat, one was a Republican. So I think we hit it just right.”
He says getting legislation across the finish line requires members on both sides of the aisle to be willing to compromise.
“You have to be willing to compromise on all of those issues, and when you do that, then you get these bills that you can pass, that you get signed into law, and you get a huge, huge margin on the floor of the House,” Graves says.
So why does that kind of compromise seem increasingly difficult to find in Washington? Graves says partisanship is certainly present on both sides of the aisle, but he believes most members of Congress still recognize the importance of working together.
“We do have a lot of partisan members of Congress on both sides of the aisle,” Graves says. “And then we also have a lot, the vast majority, believe it or not, do believe in compromise and they believe in working things out.”
He also pushes back on the idea that today’s political environment is necessarily the worst Congress has experienced.
“The United States and Congress itself is always evolving. It’s always changing. We’ve had times that have been a lot worse. We’ve had times that have been a lot better,” Graves says. “It’ll change, it’ll go back, as it always has. But we’ve seen partisanship a lot worse in the past than we are seeing today.”
That ability to work across party lines has also drawn recognition from Graves’ Democratic counterpart on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
After Graves announced he would not seek re-election, Ranking Member Rick Larsen released a statement calling him a “fierce advocate for infrastructure investment and transportation safety.”
For Graves, securing funding to maintain the nation’s waterways and inland infrastructure, including the Missouri River, ranks among the accomplishments of his congressional career.
Why Graves Decided It Was Time to Leave Congress
Graves has spent 26 years in Congress, following six years in the Missouri State Senate and State House. After more than three decades in elected office, he says the decision to step away ultimately came down to knowing when it was time for something different.
“I’ve been in Congress itself for 26 years, and before that I was in the State Senate for six years in the State House,” Graves says. “It was time for me to, I was getting restless, it’s time for me to do something different, which I am going to do. And it’s also time to let the next generation, so to speak, take over.”
He says he wanted to leave on his own terms rather than wait until an election forced the decision.
Looking back, Graves says he has enjoyed his time in Washington and has few regrets about his career. However, the time away from his family is something he recognizes came with a cost.
“I really don’t have any, to be honest with you. I have enjoyed my entire time in Congress,” Graves says. “I do regret missing some of the things that my children took part in, in terms of, you know, football games or dance recitals or whatever that might be.”
He says his children also experienced opportunities they might not otherwise have had, including meeting presidents and taking part in events in Washington. Still, those experiences came with trade-offs.
As for another run for elected office, Graves is unequivocal.
“I’ll never run for elective office again,” he says, leaving open the possibility of something on a smaller scale, such as serving on a school board.
More Time on the Farm
Before he trades Capitol Hill for more time at home, Graves still has work to do. The Water Resources Development Act of 2026 remains part of the legislative agenda as he prepares to wrap up his congressional career.
And while Graves has spent much of his adult life traveling between Missouri and Washington, his interests outside of politics have always reflected a fascination with history and aviation.
He collects and restores military vehicles, including a World War II half-track built by the White Motor Corporation. He’s also an air show pilot who flies historic military aircraft, including Mustangs, Corsairs, P-40s and Avengers, through arrangements with museums around the country.
Those hobbies may fill some of his time in retirement, but the farm is likely to remain a central part of the next chapter.
After 26 years in Washington, Graves says he’s ready to spend more time where his story began - at home, working alongside the next generation of his family on the farm. But he’s not leaving Washington completely. He says his work in Washington isn’t finished, it just won’t be from a seat in Congress.
