I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5354 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a small farm EQIP subprogram under the environmental quality incentives program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023 

Ms. CARAVEO (for herself, Mr. VASQUEZ, Ms. SLOTKIN, and Ms. PETTERSEN) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the 

Secretary of Agriculture to establish a small farm EQIP 

subprogram under the environmental quality incentives 

program, 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 ‘‘Small Farm Conserva5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SMALL FARM EQIP SUBPROGRAM. 

7 Section 1240B of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

8 U.S.C. 3839aa–2) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (d)— 

2 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert3 ing the following: 

4 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY; MINIMUM AMOUNT.— 

5 ‘‘(A) AVAILABILITY.—A payment provided 

6 to a producer under the program shall be used 

7 to implement 1 or more practices under the 

8 program. 

9 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of 

10 a payment provided to a producer under the 

11 program shall be not less than $2,500.’’; 

12 (B) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre13 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘A pay14 ment’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph 

15 (1)(B), a payment’’; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(8) SOIL HEALTH MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PAY18 MENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para20 graph (2), the Secretary shall increase the 

21 amount that would otherwise be provided for 

22 practices comprising a soil health management 

23 system on a farm by 50 percent for any appli24 cation for a soil health management system on 

25 an operation of not more than 50 acres. 


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1 ‘‘(B) RAPID AND STREAMLINED APPLICA2 TION AND CONTRACT APPROVAL.—The Sec3 retary shall provide payments under this para4 graph on a continuous enrollment basis, using 

5 a rapid and streamlined application and con6 tract approval process.’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(3) SMALL FARM EQIP SUBPROGRAM.— 

10 ‘‘(A) TOTAL FUNDING.—For each of fiscal 

11 years 2024 through 2028, not less than 

12 $100,000,000 of the funds made available for 

13 payments under the program shall be used to 

14 carry out the subprogram established under 

15 subsection (k). 

16 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSIST17 ANCE.—Of the amounts made available under 

18 subparagraph (A)— 

19 ‘‘(i) 35 percent shall be used to ensure 

20 the provision of tailored technical assist21 ance for small-scale agricultural producers 

22 by— 

23 ‘‘(I) hiring new Natural Re24 sources Conservation Service staff 

25 who are familiar with the unique conVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Sep 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5354.IH H5354

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1 servation challenges faced by small2 scale agricultural producers; 

3 ‘‘(II) training current Natural 

4 Resources Conservation Service field 

5 staff regarding the challenges de6 scribed in subclause (I); and 

7 ‘‘(III) ensuring sufficient Natural 

8 Resources Conservation Service staff9 ing levels to deliver a streamlined and 

10 expedited application and contracting 

11 experience to small-scale agricultural 

12 producers; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) 65 percent shall be used to pro14 vide financial assistance directly to small15 scale agricultural producers.’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(k) SMALL FARM EQIP SUBPROGRAM.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In each State, the Sec19 retary shall establish under the program a subpro20 gram, under which the Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) provide financial and technical assist22 ance to small-scale agricultural producers that 

23 enter into contracts with the Secretary under 

24 the subprogram; 


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1 ‘‘(B) conduct outreach to small-scale agri2 cultural producers to increase participation in 

3 the subprogram; and 

4 ‘‘(C) provide to field staff of the Natural 

5 Resources Conservation Service training and 

6 education regarding the specific conservation 

7 needs of small-scale agricultural producers. 

8 ‘‘(2) PAYMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

10 determine whether a small-scale agricultural 

11 producer is eligible to receive payments under 

12 this subsection— 

13 ‘‘(i) on a State-by-State basis, subject 

14 to subparagraph (C); 

15 ‘‘(ii) in consultation with the technical 

16 committee established under section 

17 1261(a) of the State in which the small18 scale agricultural producer is located; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) based on— 

20 ‘‘(I) the operations of a small21 scale agricultural producer, including 

22 with respect to farm size and gross 

23 sales; 

24 ‘‘(II) demographic data compiled 

25 by the National Agricultural Statistics 


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1 Service relating to small-scale agricul2 tural producers, including— 

3 ‘‘(aa) historically under4 served farmers, ranchers, and 

5 forest owners, including— 

6 ‘‘(AA) veteran farmers 

7 and ranchers; 

8 ‘‘(BB) limited-resource 

9 farmers, ranchers, and for10 est owners; 

11 ‘‘(CC) beginning farm12 ers and ranchers; and 

13 ‘‘(DD) socially dis14 advantaged farmers; and 

15 ‘‘(bb) farmers, ranchers, and 

16 forest owners operating in high17 poverty areas; 

18 ‘‘(III) the applicable advanced 

19 payment requirements under sub20 section (d)(4); and 

21 ‘‘(IV) other relevant information, 

22 as determined by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall pro24 vide payments under this subsection to a pro25 ducer that is eligible for the payments under 


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1 subparagraph (A) in such amount as the Sec2 retary determines— 

3 ‘‘(i) achieves the purposes described in 

4 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph 

5 (1); 

6 ‘‘(ii) addresses natural resource con7 cerns relating to production on small-scale 

8 agricultural operations; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) is in accordance with any appli10 cable increased payment requirements 

11 under subsection (d)(4). 

12 ‘‘(C) SIZE REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to 

14 receive a payment under subparagraph (A) 

15 (other than a payment described in clause 

16 (ii)), the farm size of an agricultural pro17 ducer may not exceed the median farm size 

18 of the State in which the producer is lo19 cated, based on aggregate data published 

20 by the National Agricultural Statistics 

21 Service. 

22 ‘‘(ii) LIVESTOCK AND PASTURE MAN23 AGEMENT PAYMENTS.—To be eligible to 

24 receive a livestock or pasture management 

25 payment under subparagraph (A), the herd 


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1 size of an agricultural producer may not 

2 exceed the median herd size of the State in 

3 which the producer is located, based on ag4 gregate data published by the National Ag5 ricultural Statistics Service. 

6 ‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re8 ceive financial and technical assistance under 

9 this subsection, a producer that is eligible for 

10 the assistance under paragraph (2)(A) shall 

11 submit to the Secretary an application at such 

12 time, in such manner, and containing such in13 formation as the Secretary may require. 

14 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATION.—To the maximum 

15 extent practicable, the Secretary shall limit the 

16 administrative burdens, and the regulatory bar17 riers that contribute to administrative burdens, 

18 on producers applying for payments under this 

19 subsection. 

20 ‘‘(C) RAPID AND STREAMLINED APPLICA21 TION AND CONTRACT APPROVAL.—The Sec22 retary shall provide payments under this para23 graph on a continuous enrollment basis, using 

24 a rapid and streamlined application and con25 tract approval process. 


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1 ‘‘(4) SUBPROGRAM COORDINATORS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara3 graph (B), the Secretary shall designate— 

4 ‘‘(i) a national subprogram coordi5 nator; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) a subprogram coordinator in 

7 each State. 

8 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—At the time of des9 ignation under subparagraph (A), a national or 

10 State subprogram coordinator shall be— 

11 ‘‘(i) an employee of the Natural Re12 sources Conservation Service; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) responsible for, on a national or 

14 statewide basis, respectively— 

15 ‘‘(I) public outreach relating to 

16 the subprogram; 

17 ‘‘(II) assisting producers in the 

18 submission of applications under the 

19 subprogram; 

20 ‘‘(III) distributing financial and 

21 technical assistance under this sub22 section; and 

23 ‘‘(IV) submitting to the Secretary 

24 annual recommendations with respect 

25 to additional conservation practice 


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1 standards and activities required to 

2 better serve small-scale agricultural 

3 producers. 

4 ‘‘(5) LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec5 retary shall publish any outreach materials for 

6 small-scale agricultural producers relating to the 

7 subprogram under this subsection simultaneously 

8 in— 

9 ‘‘(A) English; and 

10 ‘‘(B) such additional languages as the Sec11 retary determines to be appropriate for each ap12 plicable State. 

13 ‘‘(6) REPORT.—Not later than May 1, 2027, 

14 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Ag15 riculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and 

16 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep17 resentatives a report describing the results of the 

18 subprogram under this subsection, including— 

19 ‘‘(A) activities carried out under paragraph 

20 (3)(B) to limit administrative burdens and reg21 ulatory barriers; and 

22 ‘‘(B) to the maximum extent practicable, 

23 demographic information relating to each small24 scale agricultural producer participating in the 


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1 subprogram, as the Secretary determines to be 

2 appropriate.’’. 

Æ 


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