II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5176 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants to producers to carry out climate-smart conversion projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to direct the 

Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants to producers 

to carry out climate-smart conversion projects, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Industrial Agriculture 

5 Conversion Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CLIMATE-SMART CONVERSION GRANTS. 

2 Subchapter A of chapter 4 of subtitle D of title XII 

3 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa et 

4 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 1240H–1. CLIMATE-SMART CONVERSION GRANTS. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATION.—The term 

8 ‘animal feeding operation’ means a lot or facility at 

9 which— 

10 ‘‘(A) for not less than a total of 45 days 

11 in any 12-month period, animals (other than 

12 aquatic animals) are— 

13 ‘‘(i) stabled or confined; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) fed or maintained; and 

15 ‘‘(B) crops, vegetation, forage growth, or 

16 postharvest residues are not sustained in the 

17 normal growing season over any portion of the 

18 lot or facility. 

19 ‘‘(2) CLIMATE-SMART CONVERSION PROJECT.— 

20 The term ‘climate-smart conversion project’ means a 

21 climate-smart conversion project described in sub22 section (d). 

23 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en24 tity’ means a producer or non-Federal entity that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) has control of the land that is the 

2 subject of a grant provided under this section; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) owns or operates a medium con5 centrated animal feeding operation or large con6 centrated animal feeding operation that— 

7 ‘‘(i) is in operation for livestock or 

8 poultry production at the time of submis9 sion of an application for a grant under 

10 this section; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) was in operation for livestock or 

12 poultry production not more than 1 year 

13 prior to the time of submission of such an 

14 application. 

15 ‘‘(4) LARGE CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING

16 OPERATION.—The term ‘large concentrated animal 

17 feeding operation’ means an animal feeding oper18 ation at which are present not less than— 

19 ‘‘(A) 700 mature dairy cows, milked or 

20 dry; 

21 ‘‘(B) 1,000 veal calves; 

22 ‘‘(C) 1,000 cattle (including heifers, steers, 

23 bulls, cows, and calves) other than mature dairy 

24 cows or veal calves; 


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1 ‘‘(D) 2,500 swine, each weighing not less 

2 than 55 pounds; 

3 ‘‘(E) 10,000 swine, each weighing less 

4 than 55 pounds; 

5 ‘‘(F) 500 horses; 

6 ‘‘(G) 10,000 sheep or lambs; 

7 ‘‘(H) 55,000 turkeys; 

8 ‘‘(I) in the case of an animal feeding oper9 ation that uses a liquid manure handling sys10 tem— 

11 ‘‘(i) 30,000 laying hens or broilers; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) 5,000 ducks; or 

13 ‘‘(J) in the case of an animal feeding oper14 ation that uses a system other than a liquid 

15 manure handling system— 

16 ‘‘(i) 125,000 chickens (other than lay17 ing hens); 

18 ‘‘(ii) 82,000 laying hens; or 

19 ‘‘(iii) 30,000 ducks. 

20 ‘‘(5) MEDIUM CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEED21 ING OPERATION.—The term ‘medium concentrated 

22 animal feeding operation’ means an animal feeding 

23 operation at which— 

24 ‘‘(A) are present— 


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1 ‘‘(i) not less than 200 and not more 

2 than 699 mature dairy cows, whether 

3 milked or dry; 

4 ‘‘(ii) not less than 300 and not more 

5 than 999 veal calves; 

6 ‘‘(iii) not less than 300 and not more 

7 than 999 cattle (including heifers, steers, 

8 bulls, cows, and calves) other than mature 

9 dairy cows or veal calves; 

10 ‘‘(iv) not less than 750 and not more 

11 than 2,499 swine, each weighing not less 

12 than 55 pounds; 

13 ‘‘(v) not less than 3,000 and not more 

14 than 9,999 swine, each weighing less than 

15 55 pounds; 

16 ‘‘(vi) not less than 150 and not more 

17 than 499 horses; 

18 ‘‘(vii) not less than 3,000 and not 

19 more than 9,999 sheep or lambs; 

20 ‘‘(viii) not less than 16,500 and not 

21 more than 54,999 turkeys; 

22 ‘‘(ix) in the case of an animal feeding 

23 operation that uses a liquid manure han24 dling system— 


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1 ‘‘(I) not less than 9,000 and not 

2 more than 29,999 laying hens or 

3 broilers; or 

4 ‘‘(II) not less than 1,500 and not 

5 more than 4,999 ducks; or 

6 ‘‘(x) in the case of an animal feeding 

7 operation that uses a system other than a 

8 liquid manure handling system— 

9 ‘‘(I) not less than 37,500 and not 

10 more than 124,999 chickens (other 

11 than laying hens); 

12 ‘‘(II) not less than 25,000 and 

13 not more than 81,999 laying hens; or 

14 ‘‘(III) not less than 10,000 and 

15 not more than 29,999 ducks; and 

16 ‘‘(B) pollutants are discharged— 

17 ‘‘(i) into waters of the United States 

18 through a man-made ditch, flushing sys19 tem, or other similar man-made device; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) directly into waters of the United 

21 States that originate outside of and pass 

22 over, across, or through the animal feeding 

23 operation or otherwise come into direct 

24 contact with the animals confined in the 

25 animal feeding operation. 


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1 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—Using the amounts made available by 

2 subsection (h), the Secretary shall provide grants to eligi3 ble entities to carry out climate-smart conversion projects 

4 in accordance with this section. 

5 ‘‘(c) GRANT APPLICATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) DUTY OF SECRETARY.—Not later than 

7 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, 

8 and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall publish 

9 detailed guidelines on how to apply for a grant 

10 under this section. 

11 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—An eligible entity seeking a 

12 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec13 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 

14 and containing such information, including a pro15 posal for a climate-smart conversion project, as are 

16 described in the detailed guidelines published under 

17 paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(d) CLIMATE-SMART CONVERSION PROJECTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re20 ceives a grant under this section shall carry out a 

21 climate-smart conversion project that converts an ex22 isting medium concentrated animal feeding operation 

23 or large concentrated animal feeding operation into 

24 a climate-smart facility by making 1 or more of the 


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1 following beneficial, on-farm infrastructure improve2 ments: 

3 ‘‘(A) Improvements related to providing 

4 animals with access to the outdoors or pasture, 

5 including purchasing, integrating, or con6 structing— 

7 ‘‘(i) fencing and mobile or permanent 

8 housing or shelter; 

9 ‘‘(ii) enrichment materials for use in 

10 indoor shelters; 

11 ‘‘(iii) hedgerow and ecosystem en12 hancement planting and design; 

13 ‘‘(iv) drought-resistant grasses; or 

14 ‘‘(v) water lines and irrigation struc15 tures for watering outdoor animals. 

16 ‘‘(B) Improvements related to converting 

17 to specialty crop or organic production, includ18 ing— 

19 ‘‘(i) purchasing— 

20 ‘‘(I) seeds and starts; 

21 ‘‘(II) compost and compost struc22 ture supplies; 

23 ‘‘(III) propagation supplies; and 

24 ‘‘(IV) soil remediation tools, in25 cluding off-the-ground raised beds, 


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1 portable pots, or other converted 

2 structures; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) establishing or repurposing exist4 ing structures or constructing high tunnels 

5 or similar protected-environment planting 

6 structures. 

7 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—An eligible entity shall not 

8 use a grant provided under this section to construct, 

9 through a climate-smart conversion project— 

10 ‘‘(A) an animal mortality facility; 

11 ‘‘(B) a manure lagoon or other liquid 

12 waste storage or treatment facility; or 

13 ‘‘(C) a manure methane digester system. 

14 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT.—As a condition of receiv15 ing a grant under this section, not later than 180 

16 days after the date on which the eligible entity re17 ceives the grant, the eligible entity shall permanently 

18 cease any operation of the medium concentrated ani19 mal feeding operation or large concentrated animal 

20 feeding operation described in subsection (a)(3)(B) 

21 where animals are confined entirely indoors on the 

22 land and facilities that are the subject of the grant. 

23 ‘‘(e) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a 

25 grant provided to an eligible entity under this secVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Oct 09, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5176.IS S5176

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1 tion shall not exceed 90 percent of the total cost of 

2 the applicable climate-smart conversion project. 

3 ‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—An eligible entity 

4 that receives a grant under this section shall provide 

5 non-Federal funding, in the form of direct funding 

6 or in-kind contributions, equal to not less than 10 

7 percent of the total cost of the applicable climate8 smart conversion project. 

9 ‘‘(3) LOWER COST-SHARE REQUIREMENTS FOR

10 CERTAIN ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Notwithstanding 

11 paragraphs (1) and (2), the Secretary may reduce 

12 the amount that would otherwise be required to be 

13 provided by an eligible entity under those para14 graphs in the case of an eligible entity who is a so15 cially disadvantaged farmer or rancher (as defined in 

16 section 2501(a) of the Food, Agriculture, Conserva17 tion, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(a))) 

18 carrying out the applicable climate-smart conversion 

19 project with the assistance of— 

20 ‘‘(A) a community-based organization com21 posed of, representing, or exclusively working 

22 with historically underserved producers; or 

23 ‘‘(B) a land grant institution, Hispanic24 serving institution, or other minority-serving in25 stitution, such as a historically Black college or 


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1 university, a Tribally controlled college or uni2 versity, or an Asian American and Pacific Is3 lander-serving institution. 

4 ‘‘(f) GRANT TERM.—The term of a grant provided 

5 under this section shall not exceed 3 years. 

6 ‘‘(g) UNDUE OR UNREASONABLE PREJUDICE OR

7 DISADVANTAGE.—Any refusal by a packer (as defined in 

8 section 201 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 

9 U.S.C. 191)), to purchase livestock or poultry from an en10 tity on account of that entity having applied for or carried 

11 out a climate-smart conversion project under this section 

12 shall be considered an undue or unreasonable prejudice 

13 or disadvantage under section 202(b) of that Act (7 

14 U.S.C. 192(b)) and in violation of that Act (7 U.S.C. 191 

15 et seq.). 

16 ‘‘(h) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use to provide 

17 grants under subsection (b) amounts appropriated to 

18 carry out this subchapter by section 21001(a)(1) of Public 

19 Law 117–169 (136 Stat. 2015) that remain unobligated 

20 as of the date of enactment of this section.’’. 

Æ 


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