II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4604 

To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 

to authorize grants for eligible institutions to carry out agriculture workforce training programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 25, 2022 

Ms. SMITH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade 

Act of 1990 to authorize grants for eligible institutions 

to carry out agriculture workforce training programs, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. AGRICULTURE WORKFORCE TRAINING PRO4 GRAM GRANTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2501(d) of the Food, Ag6 riculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 

7 2279(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(16) AGRICULTURE WORKFORCE TRAINING

2 PROGRAM GRANTS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(i) AGRICULTURE WORKFORCE

5 TRAINING PROGRAM.—The term ‘agri6 culture workforce training program’ means 

7 a training program developed by an eligible 

8 institution in collaboration with a targeted 

9 industry partner through which students 

10 enrolled at that eligible institution receive 

11 training from that targeted industry part12 ner, including through— 

13 ‘‘(I) internships; 

14 ‘‘(II) apprenticeships; 

15 ‘‘(III) experience-based curricula; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(IV) educational programs and 

18 workshops to promote technical skills. 

19 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The 

20 term ‘eligible institution’ means— 

21 ‘‘(I) an 1862 Institution (as de22 fined in section 2 of the Agricultural 

23 Research, Extension, and Education 

24 Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601)); 


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1 ‘‘(II) an 1890 Institution (as de2 fined in that section); 

3 ‘‘(III) a 1994 Institution (as de4 fined in section 532 of the Equity in 

5 Educational Land-Grant Status Act 

6 of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note; Public 

7 Law 103–382)); 

8 ‘‘(IV) a non-land-grant college of 

9 agriculture (as defined in section 

10 1404 of the National Agricultural Re11 search, Extension, and Teaching Pol12 icy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103)); 

13 ‘‘(V) Hispanic-serving agricul14 tural colleges and universities (as de15 fined in that section); 

16 ‘‘(VI) a center of excellence rec17 ognized under section 1673; 

18 ‘‘(VII) a junior or community 

19 college (as defined in section 312 of 

20 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

21 U.S.C. 1058)) that offers a program 

22 of study in agriculture; and 

23 ‘‘(VIII) an area career and tech24 nical education school (as defined in 

25 section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins CaVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:33 Jul 26, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4604.IS S4604

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1 reer and Technical Education Act of 

2 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302)) that offers a 

3 program of study in agriculture. 

4 ‘‘(iii) TARGETED INDUSTRY PART5 NER.—The term ‘targeted industry part6 ner’ means 1 or more of the following enti7 ties: 

8 ‘‘(I) A member of the agriculture 

9 industry, such as a company or indus10 try association. 

11 ‘‘(II) An apprenticeship program 

12 in agriculture registered under the 

13 Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly 

14 known as the ‘National Apprentice15 ship Act’) (50 Stat. 664, chapter 663; 

16 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 

17 ‘‘(III) A nonprofit organization 

18 that aims to help individuals gain em19 ployment in the agriculture industry. 

20 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS.—The 

21 Secretary, acting through the Director of the 

22 National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 

23 shall award grants in accordance with this sub24 section to eligible institutions to develop and 


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1 carry out agriculture workforce training pro2 grams— 

3 ‘‘(i) to promote the growth of the ag4 riculture industry; 

5 ‘‘(ii) to foster competitiveness within 

6 the agriculture industry; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) to improve the training and re8 tention of workers in the agriculture indus9 try. 

10 ‘‘(C) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—An eligible 

11 institution awarded a grant under this para12 graph shall use not less than 5 percent of the 

13 funds received through the grant to carry out 

14 an agriculture workforce training program, in15 cluding— 

16 ‘‘(i) preliminary recruitment measures 

17 to encourage students to participate in the 

18 agriculture workforce training program; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(ii) professional development sessions 

21 to train faculty to prepare students for em22 ployment in the agriculture industry.’’. 

23 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than January 31, 

24 2024, the Secretary of Agriculture shall implement para25 graph (16) of section 2501(d) of the Food, Agriculture, 


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1 Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(d)) 

2 (as added by subsection (a)). 

Æ 


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