I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1824 

To reform the safety net for farmers and ranchers, enhance soil, water, 

and habitat conservation, encourage beginning farmers and ranchers, 

strengthen nutrition for Americans, support agriculture research and 

innovation, reduce food waste, improve animal welfare, and invest in 

regional food systems, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2023 

Mr. BLUMENAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways 

and Means, Education and the Workforce, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To reform the safety net for farmers and ranchers, enhance 

soil, water, and habitat conservation, encourage beginning farmers and ranchers, strengthen nutrition for 

Americans, support agriculture research and innovation, 

reduce food waste, improve animal welfare, and invest 

in regional food systems, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Food and Farm Act’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—COMMODITIES AND CROP INSURANCE 

Subtitle A—Cutting, Capping, and Clarifying Agriculture Subsidies 

Sec. 101. Repealing excessive subsidy programs for commodity crops. 

Sec. 102. Comprehensive cap on total agricultural subsidies an eligible entity 

may receive. 

Sec. 103. Adjusted gross income limitation. 

Sec. 104. Elimination of separate payment limitation on peanut subsidies. 

Sec. 105. Strengthening prevented planting coverage. 

Sec. 106. Eliminating the yield transfer loophole. 

Sec. 107. Ensuring planting on suitable land. 

Sec. 108. Report on diversity in crop insurance. 

Subtitle B—Expansion of Whole Farm Crop Insurance 

Sec. 121. Expansion of whole farm crop insurance option for farms that grow 

multiple crops. 

TITLE II—CONSERVATION 

Subtitle A—Strengthening Conservation Compliance 

Sec. 201. Definitions. 

Sec. 202. Covered cropland program ineligibility. 

Sec. 203. Exemptions. 

Sec. 204. Development and implementation of conservation plans and conservation systems. 

Sec. 205. Wetland program ineligibility. 

Sec. 206. Delineation of wetlands; exemptions. 

Subtitle B—Enhancing Environmental Quality Incentives 

Sec. 211. Purposes. 

Sec. 212. Definitions. 

Sec. 213. Establishment and administration. 

Sec. 214. Evaluation of applications. 

Sec. 215. Environmental quality incentives program plan. 

Sec. 216. Duties of the secretary. 

Sec. 217. Limitation on payments. 

Subtitle C—Reforming the Conservation Stewardship Program 

Sec. 221. Definitions. 

Sec. 222. Conservation stewardship program. 


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Sec. 223. Stewardship contracts. 

Sec. 224. Duties of the Secretary. 

Subtitle A—Building on the Regional Conservation Partnership 

Sec. 231. Improvements to the regional conservation partnership program. 

Subtitle B—Establishing Innovative Grants for Conservation and Loans for 

Structural Improvements 

Sec. 241. Repeal and reestablishment of EQIP conservation innovation grant 

program. 

Sec. 242. Conservation loan and loan guarantee program. 

Subtitle C—Ensuring Greenhouse Gas Reporting for Agriculture 

Sec. 251. Greenhouse gas reporting. 

Sec. 252. Authorization of appropriations. 

Subtitle D—Administration and Funding 

Sec. 261. Commodity credit corporation. 

TITLE III—FOOD ASSISTANCE 

Sec. 301. Elimination of domestic procurement restriction for emergency and 

private assistance programs under the Food for Peace Act. 

Sec. 302. Elimination of cap on support for eligible organizations for certain 

purposes. 

Sec. 303. Elimination of minimum level of local sales requirement under the 

Food for Peace Act. 

Sec. 304. Food for Peace Act extensions. 

TITLE IV—NUTRITION 

Subtitle A—Increasing Access to Healthy Foods 

Sec. 401. Expanding healthy food financing initiative. 

Sec. 402. Helping schools serve healthier meals. 

Sec. 403. Strengthening the food and agriculture service learning program. 

Sec. 404. Gus Schumacher nutrition incentive program. 

Subtitle B—Improving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 

Sec. 411. Continuing the farmers’ markets supplemental nutrition assistance 

program support grant program. 

Sec. 412. Expanding and increasing support for the food insecurity nutrition 

incentives program. 

Sec. 413. Closing the meal gap. 

Sec. 414. Food as medicine. 

TITLE V—FUTURE OF AMERICAN FARMERS 

Subtitle A—Defining Beginning Farmer or Rancher 

Sec. 501. Beginning farmer or rancher defined. 

Subtitle B—Providing Resources for Beginning, Retiring, and Socially 

Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers 


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Sec. 511. Reauthorization and increased funding for outreach and assistance 

for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and veteran 

farmers and ranchers. 

Sec. 512. Ensuring permanent funding for beginning farmer and rancher development program. 

Sec. 513. Supporting beginning farmer participation in certain conservation 

programs. 

Sec. 514. Creating a priority for participation of beginning farmers and ranchers in farmers’ market and local food promotion program. 

Sec. 515. Supporting beginning farmers and ranchers through farm service 

agency liaisons. 

Sec. 516. Facilitating succession planning through the creation of farm service 

agency regional planners. 

Sec. 517. Ensuring a vibrant agricultural sector through the creation of a land 

tenure commission. 

Subtitle C—Creating Financial Incentives to Benefit Beginning Farmers and 

Ranchers 

Sec. 521. Removing barriers to farming through an eligible farmer tax credit. 

Sec. 522. Ensuring farm service facility loans can serve agricultural cooperatives. 

Sec. 523. Loans to cooperatives. 

TITLE VI—FOOD WASTE 

Sec. 601. Sense of congress regarding reducing food waste. 

Sec. 602. Establishment of office of food waste. 

Sec. 603. Establishment of food loss and waste reduction task force. 

Sec. 604. Standardizing, aggregating, and publishing food waste data. 

TITLE VII—RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND RELATED MATTERS 

Subtitle A—Investing in Sustainable Agriculture 

Sec. 701. Sustainable agriculture research, extension, and education programs. 

Sec. 702. National training program. 

Subtitle B—Supporting Research to Help Farmers Adapt to a Disrupted 

Climate 

Sec. 711. Competitive, special, and facilities grants. 

Sec. 712. Specialty crop research initiative. 

TITLE VIII—ANIMAL WELFARE 

Subtitle A—Ensuring Animal Welfare in Farming 

Sec. 801. Definitions for humanely raised livestock and poultry certification 

programs. 

Sec. 802. Increasing market access for humanely raised livestock and poultry 

certification programs. 

Sec. 803. Animal welfare tax incentives. 

Subtitle B—Reforming Animal Welfare in Agricultural Research Endeavors 

Sec. 811. Animal welfare. 


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Sec. 812. Establishing a research and extension program for humanely raised 

livestock and poultry certifications. 

TITLE IX—REGIONAL FOOD SYSTEMS 

Subtitle A—Expanding Support for Local and Regional Food Systems 

Sec. 901. Sense of the Congress. 

Sec. 902. Expanding the food leveraging investment for network coordination 

(LINC) program. 

Sec. 903. Ensuring success of regional food projects under the business and industry guaranteed loan program. 

Sec. 904. Increasing support for the specialty crop block grant program. 

Subtitle B—Enhancing Regional Food Infrastructure 

Sec. 911. Supporting regional food infrastructure assessment and collaborative 

planning. 

Sec. 912. Livestock, dairy, and poultry supply chain infrastructure grants and 

loans. 

Subtitle C—Expanding Accessibility of Federal Grant Programs 

Sec. 921. Publishing information about funded farmers’ market and local food 

promotion program projects. 

Sec. 922. Streamlining of local and regional food program application procedures. 

Subtitle D—Leveling the Playing Field for Small Farmers 

Sec. 931. Ensuring fair practices in agriculture. 

1 TITLE I—COMMODITIES AND 

2 CROP INSURANCE 

3 Subtitle A—Cutting, Capping, and 

4 Clarifying Agriculture Subsidies 

5 SEC. 101. REPEALING EXCESSIVE SUBSIDY PROGRAMS FOR 

6 COMMODITY CROPS. 

7 (a) REPEAL.—Part II of subtitle A of title I of the 

8 Agriculture Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 9011 et seq.) is re9 pealed. 

10 (b) CONTINUED APPLICATION FOR 2023 CROP

11 YEAR.—Part II of subtitle A of title I of the Agriculture 

12 Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9011 et seq.), as in effect on the 


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1 day before the date of the enactment of this Act, shall 

2 continue to apply through the 2023 crop year with respect 

3 to each covered commodity (as defined in section 1111(6) 

4 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 9011(6))) on a farm. 

5 SEC. 102. COMPREHENSIVE CAP ON TOTAL AGRICULTURAL 

6 SUBSIDIES AN ELIGIBLE ENTITY MAY RE7 CEIVE. 

8 Section 1001 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 

9 U.S.C. 1308–3a) is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) through (h) 

11 as subsections (f) through (i), respectively; 

12 (2) in such subsections, by striking ‘‘(b) and 

13 (c)’’ and ‘‘(b) or (c)’’ each place it appears and in14 serting ‘‘(b), (c), and (e)’’ and ‘‘(b), (c), or (e)’’, re15 spectively; 

16 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol17 lowing new subsection (e): 

18 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON TOTAL PAYMENTS.—Notwith19 standing any other provision of law, the total amount of 

20 payments and benefits described in section 1001D(b)(2) 

21 received, directly or indirectly, by a person or legal entity 

22 (except a joint venture or general partnership) during a 

23 crop, fiscal, or program year, as appropriate, may not ex24 ceed $125,000. This does not include ad-hoc disaster 

25 funding.’’; and 


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1 (4) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘first cousin, 

2 niece, nephew,’’. 

3 SEC. 103. ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME LIMITATION. 

4 Section 1001D(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

5 (7 U.S.C. 1308–3a(b)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$900,000’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘$400,000 unless the 75 percent of 

8 the adjusted gross income is derived from the farm’’; 

9 and 

10 (2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 

11 following new subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(F) A crop insurance premium subsidy 

13 under section 508(e) of the Federal Crop Insur14 ance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508(e)).’’. 

15 SEC. 104. ELIMINATION OF SEPARATE PAYMENT LIMITA16 TION ON PEANUT SUBSIDIES. 

17 Section 1001 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 

18 U.S.C. 1308–3a) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (b)— 

20 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

21 ‘‘(OTHER THAN PEANUTS)’’; and 

22 (B) in the text, by striking ‘‘(other than 

23 for peanuts)’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 

25 following new sentence: ‘‘Effective beginning with 


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1 the 2025 crop year, subsection (b), rather than this 

2 subsection, shall apply to payments received as mar3 keting loan gains or loan deficiency payments under 

4 subtitle B of title I of the Agricultural Act of 2014 

5 for peanuts.’’. 

6 SEC. 105. STRENGTHENING PREVENTED PLANTING COV7 ERAGE. 

8 (a) PLANTING OF COVER CROP.—Section 

9 508A(c)(1)(A)(i) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 

10 U.S.C. 1508a(c)(1)(A)(i)) is amended by inserting before 

11 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, but, in that case, the pro12 ducer shall plant a cover crop on the same acreage for 

13 the same crop year unless doing so would not constitute 

14 a good farming practice, as determined by the Secretary’’. 

15 (b) AREA CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR PAYMENT.— 

16 Section 508A(c)(4) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 

17 U.S.C. 1508a(c)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘, in the area 

18 where’’ and inserting ‘‘in the same county, in an adjoining 

19 county, or operating within 100 miles of the affected pro20 ducers, whichever area is greater,’’. 

21 (c) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS.—Section 508A(c) of 

22 the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508a) is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following new para24 graphs: 


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1 ‘‘(6) SUCCESSFUL PLANTING.—In order to 

2 qualify for prevented planting coverage, the land to 

3 be covered must have been planted in at least one 

4 of the preceding 3 crop years. 

5 ‘‘(7) IRRIGATION GUIDANCE.—The Corporation 

6 shall develop guidance on the efficient conservative 

7 use of irrigation water when a crop is clearly lost to 

8 ensure the program does not contribute to the ineffi9 cient use of water resources. 

10 ‘‘(8) COVERAGE LEVELS.—Prevented planting 

11 coverage levels shall not exceed the coverage factors 

12 as determined by the Corporation.’’. 

13 (d) STUDY.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

15 the United States shall conduct a study on good 

16 farming practices related to cover crops. 

17 (2) FINDINGS.—The Secretary shall use the 

18 findings of the study required under paragraph (1) 

19 to evaluate and make appropriate changes to the 

20 regulations of the Department. 

21 SEC. 106. ELIMINATING THE YIELD TRANSFER LOOPHOLE. 

22 Section 508(g) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 

23 U.S.C. 1508(g)) is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(6) YIELD TRANSFER PROHIBITED.—The Cor2 poration shall not allow a producer’s actual produc3 tion records from one parcel of land to be used to 

4 establish actual production history on a separate 

5 parcel of land.’’. 

6 SEC. 107. ENSURING PLANTING ON SUITABLE LAND. 

7 Section 508(e) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 

8 U.S.C. 1508(e)) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(9) PROHIBITION OF SUBSIDIES ON UNSUIT11 ABLE LAND.—The Corporation shall ensure that no 

12 premium benefits are provided on lands, other than 

13 for pasture, forage, or rangeland policy benefits, 

14 that are classified as generally unsuitable for cultiva15 tion by the land capability classification system, as 

16 determined by the Secretary.’’. 

17 SEC. 108. REPORT ON DIVERSITY IN CROP INSURANCE. 

18 Section 508(k)(8) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act 

19 (7 U.S.C. 1508(k)(8)) is amended by adding at the end 

20 the following new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(G) ANNUAL DIVERSITY REPORT.—Each 

22 Standard Reinsurance Agreement shall include 

23 a requirement for all approved insurance pro24 viders to submit to the Corporation on an anVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1824.IH H1824

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1 nual basis, in compliance with applicable pri2 vacy laws, a report— 

3 ‘‘(i) describing activities undertaken 

4 to promote access to crop insurance for so5 cially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) containing demographic informa8 tion regarding the producers being served, 

9 including information by race and gen10 der.’’. 

11 Subtitle B—Expansion of Whole 

12 Farm Crop Insurance 

13 SEC. 121. EXPANSION OF WHOLE FARM CROP INSURANCE 

14 OPTION FOR FARMS THAT GROW MULTIPLE 

15 CROPS. 

16 (a) ELIMINATION OF LIABILITY LIMITATION.—Sec17 tion 522(c)(19)(A) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 

18 U.S.C. 1522(c)(19)(A)) is amended by adding at the end 

19 the following: ‘‘, with no liability limitation,’’. 

20 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—Section 522(c)(19) of the 

21 Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1522(c)(19)) is 

22 amended by adding at the end the following new subpara23 graphs: 

24 ‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATIVE AND OPERATING

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1 sion of this subtitle, the Corporation shall allow 

2 approved insurance providers to utilize alternate 

3 compensation structures for the administration 

4 of the plan developed under subparagraph (A) 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(i) compensate agents based on the 

7 actual time it takes to write and admin8 ister a policy under the plan; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) another method approved by the 

10 Corporation that proportionally com11 pensates agents for any increased time 

12 commitments required by the plan. 

13 ‘‘(E) PAPERWORK REDUCTION.—The Cor14 poration shall seek to ensure that the paper15 work requirements of agents and producers as16 sociated with the plan developed under subpara17 graph (A) are minimized to the maximum ex18 tent possible, while still meeting actuarial 

19 soundness standards. 

20 ‘‘(F) EXPANDING OPERATIONS.—To the 

21 maximum extent possible, the Corporation shall 

22 ensure that all producers, including rapidly ex23 panding operations, are able to obtain coverage 

24 under the plan developed under subparagraph 

25 (A). 


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1 ‘‘(G) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 

2 after the date of the enactment of this subpara3 graph, the Corporation shall submit to Con4 gress a report that, with respect to this para5 graph, includes information relating to— 

6 ‘‘(i) the burden to agents and farm7 ers; 

8 ‘‘(ii) recommendations to streamline; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(iii) compliance.’’. 

11 TITLE II—CONSERVATION 

12 Subtitle A—Strengthening 

13 Conservation Compliance 

14 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

15 Section 1201(a) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

16 (16 U.S.C. 3801(a)) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (3)— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

19 ‘‘highly erodible’’ and inserting ‘‘covered’’; and 

20 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘the 

21 highly erodible’’ and inserting ‘‘covered’’; 

22 (2) in paragraph (4)— 

23 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; 

24 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 


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1 (B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 

2 as follows: 

3 ‘‘(B) are designed to, in a cost effective 

4 and technically practicable manner— 

5 ‘‘(i) achieve a substantial improve6 ment in water quality and reduce green7 house gas emissions; 

8 ‘‘(ii) achieve a rate of soil erosion no 

9 greater than the soil loss tolerance level, as 

10 determined by the Natural Resources Con11 servation Service; 

12 ‘‘(iii) prevent ephemeral gully erosion; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(iv) establish and maintain a min15 imum of 50 feet of perennial vegetation be16 tween covered cropland and intermittent or 

17 perennial waterways; and’’; and 

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

19 ‘‘(C) are based on the most recent and 

20 technically accurate soil erosion prediction mod21 els to determine if soil erosion by wind and 

22 water exceed the Soil Loss Tolerance Level on 

23 covered cropland subject to subtitle B.’’; 

24 (3) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘highly erod25 ible’’ and inserting ‘‘covered’’; 


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1 (4) by amending paragraph (7)(A)(ii) to read 

2 as follows: 

3 ‘‘(ii) before such action, such land was 

4 wetland.’’; 

5 (5) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘Any highly 

6 erodible land on which an agricultural commodity is 

7 produced after December 23, 1985, and that is not 

8 exempt under section 1212, shall be considered as 

9 part of the field in which the land was included on 

10 December 23, 1985, unless the owner and Secretary 

11 agree to modification of the boundaries of the field 

12 to carry out this title.’’; and 

13 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(28) COVERED CROPLAND.—The term ‘cov15 ered cropland’ means cropland, as defined in section 

16 718.2 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, that 

17 is planted to a row crop.’’. 

18 SEC. 202. COVERED CROPLAND PROGRAM INELIGIBILITY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1211 of the Food Security 

20 Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3811) is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a)— 

22 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

23 by striking ‘‘a field on which highly erodible 

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1 eligible for’’ and inserting ‘‘covered cropland 

2 shall be ineligible for’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (1)(A) by inserting ‘‘or 

4 income’’ after ‘‘any type of price’’; and 

5 (C) in paragraph (1)(D), by striking ‘‘ex6 cessive erosion of highly erodible land’’ and in7 serting ‘‘substantial erosion or degradation of 

8 water quality’’; and 

9 (2) in the heading of subsection (b), by striking 

10 ‘‘HIGHLY ERODIBLE LAND’’ and inserting ‘‘COMPLI11 ANCE DETERMINATION’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subtitle B of title 

13 XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3811 

14 et seq.) is amended in the heading by striking ‘‘Highly 

15 Erodible Land’’ and inserting ‘‘Covered Crop16 land’’. 

17 SEC. 203. EXEMPTIONS. 

18 Section 1212 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

19 U.S.C. 3812) is amended— 

20 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol21 lows: 

22 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY BASED ON COMPLIANCE WITH

23 CONSERVATION PLAN.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, as of January 1, 2024, 

25 or 2 years after the Natural Resources Conservation 


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1 Service has completed a conservation plan for the 

2 farm, whichever is later, a person is actively apply3 ing the approved conservation plan, such person 

4 shall have until January 1, 2028, to comply with the 

5 plan without being subject to program ineligibility. 

6 ‘‘(2) MINIMIZATION OF DOCUMENTATION.—In 

7 carrying out this subsection, the Secretary, Natural 

8 Resources Conservation Service, and local soil con9 servation districts shall minimize the quantity of 

10 documentation a person must submit to comply with 

11 this paragraph. 

12 ‘‘(3) EXPIRATION.—On the expiration of a con13 tract entered into under subchapter B of chapter 1 

14 of subtitle D, the provisions of this subtitle shall 

15 apply to the acreage that was the subject of such 

16 contract.’’; 

17 (2) by striking subsections (b), (c), and (d); 

18 (3) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), (g), 

19 and (h) as subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e), respec20 tively; and 

21 (4) in subsection (c), as so redesignated, by 

22 amending paragraph (4)(A)(i) to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(i) a person has failed to comply 

24 with section 1211, and has acted in good 


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1 faith and without an intent to violate sec2 tion 1211; or’’. 

3 SEC. 204. DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CON4 SERVATION PLANS AND CONSERVATION SYS5 TEMS. 

6 Section 1213 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

7 U.S.C. 3812a) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and eco10 nomically’’; and 

11 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘undue’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘serious’’; 

13 (2) by striking subsection (b) and redesignating 

14 subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f) as subsections (b), 

15 (c), (d), and (e), respectively; 

16 (3) in subsection (c) (as redesignated by para17 graph (2))— 

18 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘If a person makes a 

20 certification under paragraph (1), the Sec21 retary shall not be required to’’ and insert22 ing ‘‘The Secretary shall annually’’; and 

23 (ii) by inserting ‘‘on not less than 5 

24 percent of the covered cropland subject to 

25 this subtitle’’ after ‘‘being applied’’; and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the last 

2 sentence and inserting ‘‘The Secretary may re3 vise the person’s conservation plan if the Sec4 retary determines the conservation plan is not 

5 meeting the standards in section 1201(a)(4).’’; 

6 and 

7 (4) by amending subsection (d) (as redesignated 

8 by paragraph (2)) to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

10 shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) provide technical assistance to a person 

12 throughout the development, revision, and applica13 tion of the conservation plan and any conservation 

14 system of the person; and 

15 ‘‘(2) make available annually an amount equal 

16 to 0.02 percent of the funding otherwise provided for 

17 programs specified in section 1211(a), not to exceed 

18 $350 million, to provide technical assistance, con19 duct status reviews and other tasks required to fully 

20 implement the provisions of this subtitle.’’. 

21 SEC. 205. WETLAND PROGRAM INELIGIBILITY. 

22 Section 1221(c) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

23 U.S.C. 3821) is amended— 

24 (1) by amending paragraph (2)(B) to read as 

25 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(B) NEW CONVERSIONS.—In the case of 

2 a wetland that the Secretary determines was 

3 converted after the date of enactment of the 

4 Agricultural Act of 2014, the person shall be 

5 ineligible to receive crop insurance premium 

6 subsidies in subsequent reinsurance years un7 less the Secretary determines that an exemption 

8 pursuant to section 1222 applies.’’; 

9 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking subparagraph 

10 (E); and 

11 (3) in paragraph (4), by inserting at the end 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(D) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall 

14 make available annually an amount equal to 

15 0.01 percent of the funding otherwise made 

16 available for programs specified in 1221(b), not 

17 to exceed $200 million, to provide technical as18 sistance, conduct status reviews and carry out 

19 other tasks needed to fully implement the provi20 sions of this subtitle. 

21 ‘‘(E) STATUS REVIEWS.—The Secretary 

22 shall annually carry out a review of the status 

23 of compliance of the person with the conserva24 tion plan under which the conservation system 


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1 is being applied on no less than 5 percent of the 

2 covered cropland subject to this subtitle.’’. 

3 SEC. 206. DELINEATION OF WETLANDS; EXEMPTIONS. 

4 Section 1222 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

5 U.S.C. 3822) is amended in subsection (f)(2)— 

6 (1) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E); and 

7 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) and 

8 (G) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively. 

9 Subtitle B—Enhancing 

10 Environmental Quality Incentives 

11 SEC. 211. PURPOSES. 

12 Section 1240 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

13 U.S.C. 3839aa) is amended by inserting at the end the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(5) improving water quality, with special em16 phasis on reducing nutrient pollution and protecting 

17 sources of drinking water; 

18 ‘‘(6) conserving ground and surface water to 

19 sustain or improve in-stream flows; 

20 ‘‘(7) enhancing the quality of soil fertility and 

21 health; 

22 ‘‘(8) controlling invasive species; 

23 ‘‘(9) enhancing critical aquatic and terrestrial 

24 wildlife habitat for at-risk species; 


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1 ‘‘(10) reducing the amount and toxicity of pes2 ticides and other agricultural chemicals found on 

3 food and in water or the air; 

4 ‘‘(11) reducing the nontherapeutic use of medi5 cally important antibiotics in food-producing animals 

6 in order to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics 

7 used in the treatment of human and animal disease; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(12) reducing greenhouse gas emissions and 

10 helping producers adapt to a changing and unpre11 dictable climate and increase resiliency to climate 

12 change impacts, including rising temperatures and 

13 extreme weather events, while reducing greenhouse 

14 gas emissions.’’. 

15 SEC. 212. DEFINITIONS. 

16 (a) ORGANIC SYSTEM PLAN.—Section 1240A of the 

17 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–1) is 

18 amended by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating 

19 paragraphs (3) through (5) as paragraphs (2) through 

20 (4), respectively. 

21 (b) PRACTICE.—Section 1240A of the Food Security 

22 Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–1) is further amended in 

23 paragraph (3)(B) (as redesignated by subsection (a))— 

24 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and insert25 ing a semicolon; 


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1 (2) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); 

2 and 

3 (3) by inserting after clause (i) the following 

4 new clause: 

5 ‘‘(ii) comprehensive conservation plan6 ning; and’’. 

7 SEC. 213. ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 1240B(a) of the 

9 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(a)) is 

10 amended by striking ‘‘2015’’ and inserting ‘‘2028’’. 

11 (b) TERM.—Section 1240B(b)(2) of the Food Secu12 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(b)(2)(B)) is 

13 amended by striking ‘‘10 years’’ and inserting ‘‘5 years’’. 

14 (c) PRIORITY.—Section 1240B(c) of the Food Secu15 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(c)) is amended to 

16 read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—If the Secretary determines that the 

18 environmental values of two or more applications for pay19 ments are comparable, the Secretary shall assign a higher 

20 priority to a program application which will achieve the 

21 environment and conservation values using practices and 

22 systems the assessed cost of which is lower.’’. 

23 (d) PAYMENTS.— 

24 (1) LIMITATION ON SUBSTANTIAL AND PRI25 MARY BENEFITS.—Section 1240B(d) of the Food 


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1 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(d)) is 

2 amended— 

3 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

5 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

6 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by strik7 ing the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

8 or’’; and 

9 (iii) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(D) 50 percent of the cost of a practice 

12 that substantially benefits the producer, as de13 termined by the Secretary.’’; and 

14 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(8) PRIMARY BENEFIT TO PRODUCER.—A pro16 ducer shall not be eligible for payments for a prac17 tice on eligible land under the program that pri18 marily benefits the producer, as determined by the 

19 Secretary.’’. 

20 (2) INCREASED PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN PRAC21 TICES.—Section 1240B(d)(3) of the Food Security 

22 Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(d)(3)) is amended 

23 by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(H) contour farming; 

25 ‘‘(I) cover cropping; 


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1 ‘‘(J) nutrient management; 

2 ‘‘(K) stream corridor improvement; 

3 ‘‘(L) contour buffer strips; 

4 ‘‘(M) riparian herbaceous and forest buff5 ers; 

6 ‘‘(N) filterstrips; 

7 ‘‘(O) stream habitat improvement and 

8 management; 

9 ‘‘(P) grassed waterways; 

10 ‘‘(Q) wetland restoration and enhance11 ment; 

12 ‘‘(R) conservation crop rotation; or 

13 ‘‘(S) other management practices which re14 duce greenhouse gas emissions, as determined 

15 by the Secretary.’’. 

16 (3) LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN

17 PRACTICES.—Section 1240B(d) of the Food Security 

18 Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(d)) is further 

19 amended by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(9) LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN

22 PRACTICES.—A producer who owns or operates a 

23 large confined animal feeding operation (as defined 

24 by the Secretary) shall not be eligible for payments 

25 under this chapter to construct an animal waste 


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1 management facility or any associated waste trans2 port or transfer device.’’. 

3 (e) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING.—Section 1240B(f) of 

4 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(f)) 

5 is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(f) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING.—Of the funds made 

7 available for payments for each of fiscal years 2024 

8 through 2028 not less than 5 percent shall be provided 

9 to producers who participate in an independent animal 

10 welfare certification program, as defined in section 801 

11 of the Food and Farm Act.’’. 

12 (f) WATER CONSERVATION OR IRRIGATION EFFI13 CIENCY PRACTICE.—Section 1240B(h)(1) of the Food Se14 curity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(h)(1)) is amend15 ed— 

16 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

17 the end; 

18 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 

19 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

21 ‘‘(D) water-conserving practices such as 

22 dryland farming; 

23 ‘‘(E) improvement of the storage of water 

24 through measures such as water banking and 

25 groundwater recharge; or 


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1 ‘‘(F) enhancement of fish and wildlife 

2 habitat associated with irrigation systems, in3 cluding pivot corners and areas with irregular 

4 boundaries.’’. 

5 (g) PAYMENTS FOR CONSERVATION PRACTICES RE6 LATED TO ORGANIC PRODUCTION.— 

7 (1) PAYMENTS AUTHORIZED.—Section 

8 1240B(i)(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

9 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(i)(1)) is amended by striking 

10 ‘‘subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter’’. 

11 (2) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

12 1240B(i)(2) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

13 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(i)(2)) is amended to read as fol14 lows: 

15 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—As a condi16 tion for receiving payments under this subsection, a 

17 producer shall agree to develop and implement con18 servation practices for certified organic production 

19 that are consistent with the regulations promulgated 

20 under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 

21 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) and the purposes of this chap22 ter.’’. 

23 (3) PAYMENT LIMITATIONS; COORDINATION

24 WITH ORGANIC CERTIFICATION; PLANNING.—Section 


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1 1240B(i) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

2 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(i)) is amended— 

3 (A) by striking paragraph (3) and redesig4 nating paragraphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs 

5 (5) and (6), respectively; and 

6 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

7 following new paragraphs: 

8 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION WITH ORGANIC CERTIFI9 CATION.—The Secretary shall establish a trans10 parent means by which producers may initiate or11 ganic certification under the Organic Foods Produc12 tion Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) while par13 ticipating in a contract under this chapter. 

14 ‘‘(4) PLANNING.— 

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

16 provide planning assistance to producers 

17 transitioning to certified organic production 

18 consistent with the requirements of the Organic 

19 Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6501 

20 et seq.) and the purposes of this chapter. 

21 ‘‘(B) AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATION.—The 

22 Secretary shall, to the maximum extent prac23 ticable, eliminate duplication of planning activi24 ties for a producer participating in a contract 

25 under this chapter and initiating or maintaining 


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1 organic certification consistent with the Organic 

2 Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6501 

3 et seq.).’’. 

4 (h) PAYMENTS FOR CONSERVATION PRACTICES RE5 LATED TO ANTIBIOTIC USE.—Section 1240B of the Food 

6 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2) is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(k) PAYMENTS FOR CONSERVATION PRACTICES RE9 LATED TO ANTIBIOTIC USE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary 

11 shall provide payments under this chapter to live12 stock producers for three years, to assist in a transi13 tion to modified animal management and production 

14 systems, for practices leading to the reduction in the 

15 need for antibiotics, including modification of sys16 tems and spaces to— 

17 ‘‘(A) improve sanitation; 

18 ‘‘(B) improve ventilation; or 

19 ‘‘(C) support the implementation of im20 proved animal management techniques at the 

21 operation. 

22 ‘‘(2) DUTY OF PRODUCER.—The Secretary shall 

23 not make payments under this chapter for practices 

24 related to antibiotic use unless the producer agrees 

25 to provide information to the Secretary documenting 


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1 the resulting reduction in antibiotic use in the oper2 ation of the producer.’’. 

3 (i) PAYMENTS FOR CONSERVATION PRACTICES RE4 LATED TO PASTURE-BASED PRODUCTION SYSTEMS.— 

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

6 U.S.C. 3839aa–2), as amended by subsection (h), is fur7 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub8 section: 

9 ‘‘(l) PAYMENTS FOR CONSERVATION PRACTICES RE10 LATED TO PASTURE-BASED PRODUCTION SYSTEMS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary 

12 shall provide payments under this subsection for 

13 conservation practices, on some or all of the oper14 ations of a producer, related— 

15 ‘‘(A) to pasture-based, production systems; 

16 or 

17 ‘‘(B) to the transition to pasture-based 

18 production systems managed under an approved 

19 prescribed grazing plan in which animals are 

20 regularly and systematically moved to fresh 

21 pasture in such a way as to— 

22 ‘‘(i) maximize the quantity and qual23 ity of forage growth; 

24 ‘‘(ii) maximize the quality of soil fer25 tility and tilth; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) improve manure distribution and 

2 nutrient cycling; 

3 ‘‘(iv) increase the sequestration of car4 bon dioxide; 

5 ‘‘(v) improve the quality and quantity 

6 of cover for wildlife and pollinators; 

7 ‘‘(vi) provide permanent cover to pro8 tect the soil from erosion; and 

9 ‘‘(vii) improve water quality and infil10 tration. 

11 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—As a condi12 tion for receiving payments under this subsection, a 

13 producer shall agree to implement at least 3 prac14 tices and either— 

15 ‘‘(A) develops and carries out a grazing 

16 management plan that includes intensive man17 agement rotational grazing; or 

18 ‘‘(B) develops and implements conservation 

19 practices that are consistent with intensive rota20 tional grazing practices for pasture-based sys21 tems. 

22 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT PRIORITIES.—In determining 

23 the amount and rate of payments under paragraph 

24 (2)(B), the Secretary may accord great significance 

25 to practices that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) improve the quality of soil fertility 

2 and tilth; 

3 ‘‘(B) protect water quality; 

4 ‘‘(C) increase the sequestration of carbon 

5 dioxide; 

6 ‘‘(D) accelerate water infiltration; 

7 ‘‘(E) expand pollinator habitat and protec8 tion; and 

9 ‘‘(F) reduce greenhouse gas emissions.’’. 

10 SEC. 214. EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS. 

11 (a) EVALUATION CRITERIA.—Section 1240C(a) of 

12 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–3(a)) 

13 is amended by striking ‘‘national, State, and local con14 servation priorities’’ and inserting ‘‘priority resource con15 cerns identified under subsection (d)’’. 

16 (b) PRIORITIZATION OF APPLICATIONS.—Section 

17 1240C(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 

18 3839aa–3(b)) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘achieving the 

20 anticipated conservation benefits of the project’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘addressing priority resource concerns 

22 identified under subsection (d)’’; and 

23 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘designated 

24 resource concern or resource concerns’’ and inserting 

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1 section (d), including, in the case of applications 

2 from nutrient-impacted watersheds, the degree to 

3 which nutrient loadings would be reduced as a result 

4 of the proposed project’’. 

5 (c) GROUPING OF APPLICATIONS.—Section 1240C(c) 

6 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–3(c)) 

7 is amended by striking ‘‘for evaluation purposes or other8 wise evaluate applications relative to other applications for 

9 similar farming operations’’ and inserting ‘‘proposing to 

10 address the same priority resource concerns for evaluation 

11 purposes’’. 

12 (d) PRIORITY RESOURCE CONCERNS.—Section 

13 1240C of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 

14 3839aa–3) is amended by adding at the end the following 

15 new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY RESOURCE CONCERNS.—For the pur17 poses of this section, the Secretary shall identify priority 

18 resource concerns in a particular watershed or other ap19 propriate region or area within a State.’’. 

20 SEC. 215. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PRO21 GRAM PLAN. 

22 Section 1240E(a) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

23 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–5(a)) is amended to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(a) PLAN OF OPERATIONS.—To be eligible to re25 ceive payments under the program, a producer shall subVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1824.IH H1824

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1 mit to the Secretary for approval a plan of operations 

2 that— 

3 ‘‘(1) specifies the priority resource concerns to 

4 be addressed; 

5 ‘‘(2) specifies the type, number, and sequencing 

6 of conservation systems, practices, or activities to be 

7 implemented to address the priority resource con8 cerns; 

9 ‘‘(3) includes such terms and conditions as the 

10 Secretary considers necessary to carry out the pro11 gram, including a description of the purposes to be 

12 met by the implementation of the plan and a state13 ment of how the plan will achieve or take significant 

14 steps toward achieving the relevant resource man15 agement system quality criteria, as determined by 

16 the Secretary; 

17 ‘‘(4) in the case of a confined livestock feeding 

18 operation, provides for development and implementa19 tion of a comprehensive nutrient management plan, 

20 if applicable; 

21 ‘‘(5) in the case of a producer located within a 

22 nutrient-impacted watershed, identifies methods by 

23 which the producer will limit nutrient loss; and 

24 ‘‘(6) in the case of forest land, is consistent 

25 with the provisions of a forest management plan 


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1 that is approved by the Secretary, which may in2 clude— 

3 ‘‘(A) a forest stewardship plan described in 

4 section 5 of the Cooperative Forestry Assist5 ance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103a); 

6 ‘‘(B) another practice plan approved by the 

7 State forester; or 

8 ‘‘(C) another plan determined appropriate 

9 by the Secretary.’’. 

10 SEC. 216. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY. 

11 Section 1240F(2) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

12 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–6(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘infor13 mation’’ and inserting ‘‘technical assistance, informa14 tion,’’. 

15 SEC. 217. LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS. 

16 Section 1240G of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

17 U.S.C. 3839aa–7) is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 1240G. LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS. 

19 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION ON TOTAL PAYMENTS.—Subject to 

20 subsection (b), a person or legal entity may not receive, 

21 directly or indirectly, cost-share or incentive payments 

22 under this chapter, in the aggregate, for all contracts en23 tered into under this chapter by the person or entity (ex24 cluding funding arrangements with Indian tribes under 

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1 tered into under this chapter by the person or entity, 

2 that— 

3 ‘‘(1) during any fiscal year exceed $30,000; and 

4 ‘‘(2) during any five-year period exceed 

5 $150,000. 

6 ‘‘(b) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—In the case of contracts 

7 under this chapter for projects of special environmental 

8 significance, as determined by the Secretary, the Secretary 

9 may waive the limitation otherwise applicable under sub10 section (a)(1). 

11 ‘‘(c) PREVENTION OF DUPLICATION.—The Secretary 

12 shall not approve a contract or provide payments to any 

13 individual for a practice that has already been paid for 

14 as part of a previously approved and completed contract 

15 for any particular parcel of land.’’. 

16 Subtitle C—Reforming the Con17 servation Stewardship Program 

18 SEC. 221. DEFINITIONS. 

19 Section 1240I of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

20 U.S.C. 3839aa–21) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking clause (i) 

22 and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(i) vegetative measures and land 

24 management measures, including inte25 grated pest, nutrient, crop residue, crop 


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1 rotation, and managed rotational grazing 

2 management measures, as determined by 

3 the Secretary;’’; 

4 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

5 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

6 ‘‘designated’’ before ‘‘priority’’; and 

7 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘new 

8 and existing conservation activities’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘conservation activities needed to com10 prehensively address the designated priority re11 source concerns’’; 

12 (3) in paragraph (5)— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (B) by striking 

14 ‘‘and’’; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (C) by striking the 

16 period at the end and adding ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (C) by adding at the end a new subpara18 graph (D): 

19 ‘‘(D) otherwise threatens— 

20 ‘‘(i) public health or quality of life 

21 through degradation of air or water qual22 ity; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) natural resources, including soil, 

24 fish, and wildlife.’’; 


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1 (4) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as 

2 paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; 

3 (5) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(6) DESIGNATED PRIORITY RESOURCE CON6 CERN.—The term ‘designated priority resource con7 cern’ means 1 to 5 priority resource concerns identi8 fied by the Secretary that must be addressed by the 

9 program within a local watershed or specific natural 

10 resource boundary.’’; and 

11 (6) by amending paragraph (8), as redesignated 

12 by paragraph (4), to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(8) STEWARDSHIP THRESHOLD.—The term 

14 ‘stewardship threshold’ means the conservation ac15 tivities, as determined by the Secretary, to com16 prehensively address a priority resource concern 

17 using— 

18 ‘‘(A) conservation measurement tools; 

19 ‘‘(B) the resource management system 

20 quality criteria for the particular priority re21 source concerns; 

22 ‘‘(C) data from past and current program 

23 enrollments; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) other similar means to measure im2 provement and conservation of the priority re3 source concern.’’. 

4 SEC. 222. CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM. 

5 Section 1240J of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

6 U.S.C. 3839aa–22) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘fiscal years 2019 through 

9 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2024 through 

10 2028’’; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘to address priority’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘to comprehensively address des13 ignated priority’’; and 

14 (C) by striking ‘‘comprehensive manner— 

15 ’’ and all that follows through ‘‘managing exist16 ing conservation activities’’ and inserting ‘‘com17 prehensive manner’’; and 

18 (2) in subsection (b)(2), in the matter pre19 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘December 20, 

20 2018’’ and inserting ‘‘December 20, 2023’’. 

21 SEC. 223. STEWARDSHIP CONTRACTS. 

22 Section 1240K of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

23 U.S.C. 3839aa–2) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘2 priority 

2 resource concerns’’ and inserting ‘‘2 designated pri3 ority resource concerns’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (b)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

6 (i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

7 the end; 

8 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking the pe9 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 

10 (iii) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(iv) the level of conservation treat13 ment on all applicable designated priority 

14 resource concerns at the time of applica15 tion; 

16 ‘‘(v) the number of designated priority 

17 resource concerns that meet or exceed the 

18 stewardship threshold at the end of the 

19 contract period; 

20 ‘‘(vi) the degree to which the proposed 

21 conservation activities effectively, effi22 ciently, and comprehensively address the 

23 designated priority resource concerns and 

24 reduces greenhouse gas emissions; 


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1 ‘‘(vii) the extent to which the contract 

2 offer will meet or exceed the stewardship 

3 threshold for one or more designated pri4 ority resource concerns at a lower cost rel5 ative to other similarly beneficial contract 

6 offers; 

7 ‘‘(viii) the extent to which priority re8 source concerns will be addressed when 

9 transitioning from the conservation reserve 

10 program to agricultural production; and 

11 ‘‘(ix) the extent to which the contract 

12 will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.’’; 

13 (B) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and 

14 inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary may not as16 sign a higher priority to any application because the 

17 applicant is willing to accept a lower payment than 

18 the applicant would otherwise be eligible to receive. 

19 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—The Secretary 

20 may develop and use such additional criteria that 

21 the Secretary determines are necessary to ensure 

22 that designated priority resource concerns are effec23 tively and efficiently treated to meet or exceed the 

24 stewardship threshold.’’; 


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1 (3) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(c) ENTERING INTO CONTRACTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After a determination that 

5 a producer is eligible for the program under sub6 section (a), and a determination that the contract 

7 offer ranks sufficiently high under the evaluation 

8 criteria under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 

9 enter into a conservation stewardship contract with 

10 the producer to enroll the eligible land to be covered 

11 by the contract. 

12 ‘‘(2) FINANCIAL OBLIGATION.—Consistent with 

13 section 1240K(c), a contract entered into under 

14 paragraph (1) shall not create an obligation for fi15 nancial assistance until the first October 1 after the 

16 contract is entered into.’’; 

17 (4) in subsection (d)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘5 

19 years’’ and inserting ‘‘10 years’’; and 

20 (B) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by inserting 

21 ‘‘that comprehensively address a designated pri22 ority resource concern’’ after ‘‘conservation ac23 tivities’’; and 

24 (5) in subsection (e)— 


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1 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

2 by striking ‘‘fifth year’’ and inserting ‘‘tenth 

3 year’’; and 

4 (B) by amending paragraph (3)(A) to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘(A) has met or exceeded, or agrees to 

7 meet or exceed, the stewardship threshold of all 

8 designated priority resource concerns identified 

9 for the region or area in which the land that is 

10 subject to the contract is located; or’’. 

11 SEC. 224. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1240L of the Food Secu13 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24) is amended— 

14 (1) by striking subsections (a) through (c) and 

15 inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To achieve the conservation 

17 goals of a contract under the conservation stewardship 

18 program, the Secretary shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) make the program available to eligible pro20 ducers on a continuous enrollment basis with one or 

21 more ranking periods, of which shall occur in the 

22 first quarter of each fiscal year; 

23 ‘‘(2) identify not more than 5 designated pri24 ority resource concerns in a particular watershed or 

25 other appropriate region or area within a State; 


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1 ‘‘(3) for any region or area that includes any 

2 part of a nutrient-impacted watershed (as deter3 mined by the Secretary), ensure that one of the pri4 ority resource concerns identified under paragraph 

5 (2) is greenhouse gas emission reductions; 

6 ‘‘(4) develop reliable conservation measurement 

7 tools for purposes of carrying out the program; and 

8 ‘‘(5) ensure that conservation measurement 

9 tools are transparent and available to producers 

10 by— 

11 ‘‘(A) making interactive, user-friendly con12 servation measurement tools publically available 

13 online; 

14 ‘‘(B) making conservation activity natural 

15 resource and environmental benefit scores avail16 able in an easy to understand format for study 

17 both before and during application; and 

18 ‘‘(C) taking other steps, as determined by 

19 the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION TO STATES.—The Secretary shall 

21 allocate acres to States for enrollment, based on each 

22 State’s proportion of eligible land to the total acreage of 

23 eligible land in all States as follows: 

24 ‘‘(1) SOURCE WATER PROTECTION.—At least 

25 20 percent of the funds made available for financial 


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1 and technical assistance under the program shall be 

2 for contracts addressing designated priority resource 

3 concerns related to enhancing the quality and quan4 tity of source water (as that term is used in the Safe 

5 Drinking Water Act). 

6 ‘‘(2) PEST MANAGEMENT.—At least 20 percent 

7 of the funds made available for financial and tech8 nical assistance under the program shall be for con9 tracts addressing designated priority resource con10 cerns related to reducing the need for pesticides in 

11 agricultural production including organic farming 

12 systems and intensive integrated pest management. 

13 ‘‘(3) SOIL CONSERVATION.—At least 20 percent 

14 of the funds made available for financial and tech15 nical assistance under the program shall be for con16 tracts addressing designated priority resource con17 cerns related to reducing soil erosion and improving 

18 soil fertility and tilth. 

19 ‘‘(4) GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION.—At least 

20 20 percent of the funds made available for financial 

21 and technical assistance under the program shall be 

22 for contracts addressing greenhouse gas emissions. 

23 ‘‘(c) CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PAYMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF PAYMENTS.—The Sec2 retary shall provide annual payments under the pro3 gram to compensate the producer for— 

4 ‘‘(A) installing and adopting additional 

5 conservation activities that will meet or exceed 

6 the stewardship threshold for a designated pri7 ority resource concern; and 

8 ‘‘(B) improving, maintaining, and man9 aging conservation activities in place on the ag10 ricultural operation of the producer at the time 

11 the contract offer is accepted by the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The amount of the 

13 annual payment shall be determined by the Sec14 retary and based, to the maximum extent prac15 ticable, on the following factors: 

16 ‘‘(A) Costs incurred by the producer asso17 ciated with planning, design, materials, installa18 tion, labor, management, maintenance, or train19 ing. 

20 ‘‘(B) Income forgone by the producer. 

21 ‘‘(C) Expected conservation benefits, based 

22 to the maximum extent possible on conservation 

23 measurement tools. 

24 ‘‘(D) The extent to which designated pri25 ority resource concerns will be addressed 


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1 through the installation and adoption of con2 servation activities on the agricultural oper3 ation. 

4 ‘‘(E) The level of stewardship in place at 

5 the time of application and maintained over the 

6 term of the contract. 

7 ‘‘(F) The degree to which the conservation 

8 activities will be integrated across the entire ag9 ricultural operation for all designated priority 

10 resource concerns over the term of the contract. 

11 ‘‘(G) Such other factors as are determined 

12 appropriate by the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(3) EXCLUSIONS.—A payment to a producer 

14 under this subsection shall not be provided for— 

15 ‘‘(A) the design, construction, or mainte16 nance of animal waste storage or treatment fa17 cilities or associated waste transport or transfer 

18 devices for animal feeding operations; or 

19 ‘‘(B) conservation activities for which there 

20 is no cost incurred or income forgone to the 

21 producer. 

22 ‘‘(4) DELIVERY OF PAYMENTS.—In making 

23 payments under this subsection, the Secretary shall, 

24 to the extent practicable— 


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1 ‘‘(A) prorate conservation performance 

2 over the term of the contract so as to accommo3 date, to the extent practicable, producers earn4 ing equal annual payments in each fiscal year; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(B) make such payments as soon as prac7 ticable after October 1 of each fiscal year for 

8 activities carried out in the previous fiscal year. 

9 ‘‘(5) MINIMUM PAYMENT.—If a contract re10 quires a comprehensive conservation plan the imple11 mentation of which will, by the end of the contract 

12 term, meet or exceed the stewardship threshold for 

13 all designated priority resource concerns, the min14 imum payment shall be not less than $3,000.’’; 

15 (2) in subsection (d)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1)(C)— 

17 (i) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (ii) in clause (vi), by striking the pe20 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

21 (iii) by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(vii) prevents pollution of surface 

24 water or groundwater;’’; and 


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1 (iv) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(D) TRANSITION TO ORGANIC CROP OR

4 LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS.—In this subsection, the 

5 term ‘transition to organic crop or livestock sys6 tems’ means adoption of conservation activities 

7 for certified organic production on land or for 

8 herds not previously certified organic that meet 

9 all the requirements of the program and that 

10 are consistent with the regulations promulgated 

11 under the Organic Foods Production Act of 

12 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.).’’; and 

13 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

14 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

15 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

16 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

17 the period and inserting a semicolon; and 

18 (iii) by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(C) improve, maintain, and manage or 

21 adopt and maintain— 

22 ‘‘(i) resource-conserving crop rotations 

23 to achieve beneficial crop rotations as ap24 propriate for the eligible land of the pro25 ducers; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) managed intensive rotational 

2 grazing; or 

3 ‘‘(D) transition to organic crop or livestock 

4 systems.’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(m) DATA.—The Secretary shall maintain detailed 

7 and segmented data on contracts and payments under the 

8 program to allow, at a minimum, with respect to each con9 tract— 

10 ‘‘(1) quantification of the type and extent of 

11 conservation activities for which payments were 

12 made; 

13 ‘‘(2) quantification of the amount of payments 

14 made for— 

15 ‘‘(A) the installation and adoption of addi16 tional conservation activities and improvements 

17 to conservation activities in place on the oper18 ation of a producer at the time the conservation 

19 stewardship offer is accepted by the Secretary; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(B) the maintenance of existing conserva22 tion activities; and 

23 ‘‘(3) identification of the watershed and county 

24 in which the agricultural operation receiving pay25 ments is located.’’. 


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1 Subtitle A—Building on the 

2 Regional Conservation Partnership 

3 SEC. 231. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE REGIONAL CONSERVA4 TION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. 

5 (a) PROGRAM PURPOSES.—Section 1271(b) of the 

6 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3871(b)) is amend7 ed— 

8 (1) in paragraph (3)— 

9 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

10 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

11 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

12 period and inserting a semicolon; and 

13 (C) by adding the following subparagraphs 

14 at the end: 

15 ‘‘(C) enhancing and protecting the quality 

16 and quantity of source water (as that term is 

17 used in the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 300f et seq.)); 

19 ‘‘(D) reducing the use of antibiotics and 

20 pesticides in crop and livestock production; 

21 ‘‘(E) enhancing opportunities for natural22 resource-based recreation by improving water 

23 quality and fish and wildlife habitat; 


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1 ‘‘(F) addressing other opportunities to im2 prove public health and quality of life, as deter3 mined by the Secretary; and 

4 ‘‘(G) reducing greenhouse gas emissions.’’; 

5 and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(6) To avoid, to the maximum extent prac8 ticable, the need for statutory and regulatory pro9 grams related to the conservation of natural re10 sources by assisting producers in protecting soil, 

11 water, air, and related natural resources and in 

12 meeting environmental quality criteria established by 

13 Federal, State, tribal, and local governmental agen14 cies.’’. 

15 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1271A of the Food Secu16 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3871a) is amended by striking 

17 paragraph (2) and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY.—The term ‘eligible 

19 activity’ means water quality restoration or enhance20 ment projects relating to the quality of surface water 

21 and groundwater used to supply drinking water by 

22 community water systems and domestic wells, in23 cluding projects that— 

24 ‘‘(A) improve the management of crops 

25 and livestock production systems to avoid or 


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1 control runoff and leaching of farm chemicals 

2 and manure; 

3 ‘‘(B) change (including through diversi4 fying) the agricultural practices, including crop 

5 rotations; and 

6 ‘‘(C) trap or capture pollutants before the 

7 pollutants enter surface water or ground 

8 water.’’; and 

9 (c) PROGRAM AGREEMENTS.—Section 1271B of the 

10 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3871b) is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘5’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘15’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘5’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘10’’; and 

16 (3) in subsection (c)(1)— 

17 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 

18 through (F) as subparagraphs (B) through (G); 

19 (B) by inserting before subparagraph (B) 

20 (as so redesignated) the following new subpara21 graph: 

22 ‘‘(A) complete natural resource and water23 shed assessments to effectively support plan24 ning and implementation of the proposed 


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1 project that is the subject of the agreement;’’; 

2 and 

3 (C) in subparagraph (F) (as redesignated 

4 by subparagraph (A)), by inserting ‘‘monitor re5 sults and’’ before ‘‘conduct’’. 

6 (d) ASSISTANCE TO PRODUCERS.—Section 1271C of 

7 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3871c) is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘assistance 

10 to’’ and all that follows through ‘‘with the Sec11 retary.’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘assistance, 

12 under the programs under this subtitle, to producers 

13 proposing to implement conservation activities that 

14 meet the objectives of the partnership agreement en15 tered into under section 1271B.’’; 

16 (2) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ‘‘5 years’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘at least 10 years, but that does not 

18 exceed 15 years’’; and 

19 (3) in subsection (d)(2)(B), by striking ‘‘15’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘20’’. 

21 (e) FUNDING.—Section 1271D(a) of the Food Secu22 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3871d(a)) is amended by 

23 striking ‘‘$300,000,000 of the funds of the Commodity 

24 Credit Corporation for each of fiscal years 2019 through 

25 2031’’ and inserting ‘‘$300,000,000 of the funds of the 


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1 Commodity Credit Corporation for fiscal year 2024 and 

2 $500,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2025 to 2031’’. 

3 (f) CRITICAL CONSERVATION AREAS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1271F of the Food 

5 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3871f) is amended 

6 in subsection (a)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘sediment con7 trol’’ and all that follows through the period at the 

8 end and inserting ‘‘sediment control, and enhancing 

9 the quality of surface water and groundwater used 

10 to supply drinking water by community water sys11 tems (as defined in the Safe Drinking Water Act) 

12 and domestic wells;’’. 

13 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

14 by this section shall apply with respect to partner15 ship agreements entered into on or after October 1, 

16 2023. 

17 Subtitle B—Establishing Innova18 tive Grants for Conservation 

19 and Loans for Structural Im20 provements 

21 SEC. 241. REPEAL AND REESTABLISHMENT OF EQIP CON22 SERVATION INNOVATION GRANT PROGRAM. 

23 (a) REPEAL.—Section 1240H of the Food Security 

24 Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–8) is repealed. 


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1 (b) CONSERVATION INNOVATION GRANT PRO2 GRAM.—Chapter 5 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food 

3 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839bb et seq.) is amend4 ed in subsection (a)(2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(I) provide payments to producers to im6 plement cost-effective and innovative tech7 nologies to address priority resource concerns 

8 related to air quality from agricultural oper9 ations; and 

10 ‘‘(J) provide environmental and resource 

11 conservation benefits through increased partici12 pation by beginning farmers and ranchers and 

13 socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.’’. 

14 SEC. 242. CONSERVATION LOAN AND LOAN GUARANTEE 

15 PROGRAM. 

16 Section 304 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural De17 velopment Act is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (b)(3)— 

19 (A) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

20 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

21 (B) in subparagraph (G), by striking the 

22 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘(H) how and to what extent the conserva25 tion project will support the implementation of 


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1 a comprehensive conservation plan and improve 

2 the conditions of identified priority resource 

3 concerns.’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(3) CONSERVATION LOAN PLAN.—In order to 

7 be eligible to receive a loan or loan guarantee under 

8 this section, an entity described in paragraph (1) 

9 shall have a conservation loan plan.’’; 

10 (3) in subsection (d)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

12 the end; 

13 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe14 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

16 ‘‘(4) projects that will do the most to address 

17 priority resource concerns, as specified in a con18 servation loan plan; and 

19 ‘‘(5) projects that are designed to help pro20 ducers comply with, or avoid the need for, local, 

21 State, or Federal regulation.’’; and 

22 (4) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—The Sec2 retary shall ensure, to the maximum extent prac3 ticable, that qualified conservation loans made or 

4 guaranteed under this section are distributed across 

5 diverse geographic regions, while still prioritizing 

6 qualified conservation projects with the greatest con7 servation or environmental benefit. 

8 ‘‘(2) AGENCY COOPERATION.—The Secretary 

9 shall ensure proper cooperation between the Natural 

10 Resources Conservation Service, which shall review 

11 and approve comprehensive loan plans and provide 

12 technical assistance for qualified conservation 

13 projects, and the Farm Service Agency, which will 

14 approve and issue loans and loan guarantees under 

15 this section. 

16 ‘‘(3) INTEREST RATES.—The Secretary shall 

17 ensure that a loan made under this section is made 

18 at or below market rate.’’. 

19 Subtitle C—Ensuring Greenhouse 

20 Gas Reporting for Agriculture 

21 SEC. 251. GREENHOUSE GAS REPORTING. 

22 (a) REPORTING PROGRAM.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 

24 2026, the Secretary, in consultation with the Admin25 istrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and 


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1 the Secretary of the Interior, shall establish and im2 plement a program to identify all major source cat3 egories of associated emissions and collect data on 

4 associated emissions from the production of agricul5 tural commodities and their food products in the 

6 United States, including— 

7 (A) emissions of greenhouse gases from the 

8 livestock industry, including from concentrated 

9 animal feeding operations, as defined by the 

10 Secretary; and 

11 (B) emissions of greenhouse gases from 

12 the production of commodity and specialty 

13 crops, including the tilling of soil, and the use 

14 of synthetic fertilizer. 

15 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 12 

16 months after the date that the Secretary implements 

17 the program described in paragraph (1), and annu18 ally thereafter, the Secretary shall issue a report, to 

19 be made available to the public and the appropriate 

20 committees of Congress, on associated emissions, in21 cluding— 

22 (A) identification of all major source cat23 egories of associated emissions; 

24 (B) the total amount, expressed in tons of 

25 carbon dioxide equivalent, of— 


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1 (i) carbon dioxide, methane, and other 

2 greenhouse gases emitted through trans3 portation of agriculture products to market 

4 within the United States during the pre5 ceding calendar year; 

6 (ii) carbon dioxide, methane, and 

7 other greenhouse gases emitted through 

8 the rearing, raising, slaughter, and proc9 essing of poultry and livestock products in 

10 the United States, including those carbon 

11 dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse 

12 gases emitted by manure management sys13 tems; 

14 (iii) carbon dioxide, methane, and 

15 other greenhouse gases emitted by the use 

16 of fertilizer in the production of commodity 

17 and specialty crops; and 

18 (iv) carbon dioxide, methane, and 

19 other greenhouse gases emitted by the till20 age of soil in the production of commodity 

21 and specialty crops; and 

22 (C) identification of all major agricultural 

23 practices that can reduce the emission of car24 bon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse 

25 gases, including— 


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1 (i) the use of cover crops; 

2 (ii) the reduction and elimination of 

3 soil tillage, the successive planting of dif4 ferent crops on the same land, and other 

5 soil management practices; 

6 (iii) the use of rotational grazing on 

7 pasture for livestock; 

8 (iv) the use of anaerobic digesters to 

9 process organic material; 

10 (v) the use of buffer crops to reduce 

11 soil erosion; and 

12 (vi) other practices that can yield sig13 nificant reductions in the emission of car14 bon dioxide, methane, and other green15 house gases by producers of agricultural 

16 commodities and their food products. 

17 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

18 (1) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘‘greenhouse 

19 gas’’ has the meaning given such term under section 

20 211(o)(1)(G) of the Clean Air Act, as in effect on 

21 the date of the enactment of the Food and Farm 

22 Act. 

23 (2) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 

24 States’’ has the meaning given such term under sec25 tion 5911(a)(4) of title 5, United States Code, as in 


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1 effect on the date of the enactment of the Food and 

2 Farm Act. 

3 SEC. 252. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

5 this subtitle such sums as may be necessary for each of 

6 fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 

7 Subtitle D—Administration and 

8 Funding 

9 SEC. 261. COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1241(a) of the Food Se11 curity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841(a)) is amended to 

12 read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL FUNDING.—For each of fiscal years 

14 2024 through 2028, the Secretary shall use the funds, fa15 cilities, and authorities of the Commodity Credit Corpora16 tion to carry out the following programs under this title 

17 (including the provision of technical assistance): 

18 ‘‘(1) The conservation reserve program under 

19 subchapter B of chapter 1 of subtitle D, including, 

20 to the maximum extent practicable— 

21 ‘‘(A) $20,000,000 for the period of fiscal 

22 years 2024 through 2028 to provide payments 

23 under section 1234(c); and 

24 ‘‘(B) $66,000,000 for the period of fiscal 

25 years 2024 through 2028 to carry out section 


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1 1235(f) to facilitate the transfer of land subject 

2 to contracts from retired or retiring owners and 

3 operators to beginning farmers or ranchers and 

4 socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers. 

5 ‘‘(2) The agricultural conservation easement 

6 program under subtitle H, using, to the maximum 

7 extent practicable, $810,000,000 for each of fiscal 

8 years 2024 through 2028. 

9 ‘‘(3) The conservation security program under 

10 subchapter A of chapter 2 of subtitle D, using such 

11 sums as are necessary to administer contracts en12 tered into before September 30, 2008. 

13 ‘‘(4) The conservation stewardship program 

14 under subchapter B of chapter 2 of subtitle D. 

15 ‘‘(5) The environmental quality incentives pro16 gram under chapter 4 of subtitle D, using, to the 

17 maximum extent practicable, $3,200,000,000 for 

18 each of fiscal years 20124 through 2028. 

19 ‘‘(6) The conservation innovation grant pro20 gram under section 1240S, using, to the maximum 

21 extent practicable, $100,000,000 for each fiscal 

22 year. 

23 ‘‘(7) The conservation loan and loan guarantee 

24 program under section 1246, using, to the maximum 

25 extent practicable, for each fiscal year— 


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1 ‘‘(A) $200,000,000 for direct loans; and 

2 ‘‘(B) $150,000,000 for loan guarantees.’’. 

3 (b) GUARANTEED AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Sec4 tion 1241 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 

5 3841) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (i) 

7 as subsections (c) through (j), respectively; and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para12 graph (2), amounts made available by subsection (a) 

13 shall be used by the Secretary to carry out the pro14 grams specified in such subsection for fiscal years 

15 2024 through 2028 and shall remain available until 

16 expended. Amounts made available for the programs 

17 specified in such subsection during a fiscal year 

18 through modifications, cancellations, terminations, 

19 and other related administrative actions and not ob20 ligated in that fiscal year shall remain available for 

21 obligation during subsequent fiscal years, but shall 

22 reduce the amount of additional funds made avail23 able in the subsequent fiscal year by an amount 

24 equal to the amount remaining unobligated. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONSERVATION INNOVATION GRANT PRO2 GRAM.—Amounts made available by subsection 

3 (a)(6) for a fiscal year and not obligated in that fis4 cal year shall be made available for the environ5 mental quality incentives program under chapter 4 

6 of subtitle D, and shall remain available until ex7 pended.’’. 

8 (c) ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN FARMERS OR RANCH9 ERS FOR CONSERVATION ACCESS.—Section 1241(h) of 

10 the Food Security Act of 1985 (as redesignated by sub11 section (b)) is amended, in paragraph (1), in the matter 

12 preceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘2018’’ and in13 serting ‘‘2027’’. 

14 TITLE III—FOOD ASSISTANCE 

15 SEC. 301. ELIMINATION OF DOMESTIC PROCUREMENT RE16 STRICTION FOR EMERGENCY AND PRIVATE 

17 ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS UNDER THE FOOD 

18 FOR PEACE ACT. 

19 Title II of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1721) 

20 is amended— 

21 (1) in section 201 (7 U.S.C. 1721), in the mat22 ter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘agricul23 tural commodities’’ and inserting ‘‘assistance, in24 cluding agricultural commodities,’’; and 

25 (2) in section 202 (7 U.S.C. 1722)— 


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1 (A) in the section heading, by striking 

2 ‘‘AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘ASSISTANCE’’; 

4 (B) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘agricul5 tural commodities’’ and inserting ‘‘assistance, 

6 including agricultural commodities,’’; 

7 (C) in subsection (b)(1)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘agricultural commod9 ities’’ and inserting ‘‘assistance, including 

10 agricultural commodities,’’; and 

11 (ii) by striking ‘‘the commodities’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘the assistance’’; 

13 (D) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘Agricul14 tural commodities’’ and inserting ‘‘Assistance, 

15 including agricultural commodities,’’; and 

16 (E) in subsection (f)— 

17 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik18 ing ‘‘COMMODITIES’’ and inserting ‘‘AS19 SISTANCE’’; 

20 (ii) in the matter preceding paragraph 

21 (1), by striking ‘‘agricultural commodities’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘assistance, including agri23 cultural commodities,’’; 


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1 (iii) in the matter preceding para2 graph (1), by striking ‘‘such commodities’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘such assistance’’; and 

4 (iv) in paragraph (5), by striking 

5 ‘‘commodities’’ and inserting ‘‘assistance’’. 

6 SEC. 302. ELIMINATION OF CAP ON SUPPORT FOR ELIGI7 BLE ORGANIZATIONS FOR CERTAIN PUR8 POSES. 

9 Section 202(e)(1) of the Food for Peace Act (7 

10 U.S.C. 1722) is amended by striking ‘‘not more than 20 

11 percent’’. 

12 SEC. 303. ELIMINATION OF MINIMUM LEVEL OF LOCAL 

13 SALES REQUIREMENT UNDER THE FOOD FOR 

14 PEACE ACT. 

15 Section 203 of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 

16 1723) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting before the pe18 riod at the end the following: ‘‘to generate proceeds 

19 to be used as provided in this section’’; 

20 (2) by striking subsection (b); and 

21 (3) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

22 subsections (b) and (c), respectively. 

23 SEC. 304. FOOD FOR PEACE ACT EXTENSIONS. 

24 (a) FOOD AID QUALITY ASSURANCE.—Section 

25 202(h)(3) of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 


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1 1722(h)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘2018’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘2028’’. 

3 (b) MINIMUM LEVELS OF ASSISTANCE.—Section 

4 204(a) of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1724(a)) is 

5 amended in paragraphs (1) and (2) by striking ‘‘2018’’ 

6 both places it appears and inserting ‘‘2028’’. 

7 (c) FOOD AID CONSULTATIVE GROUP TERMI8 NATION.—Section 205(f) of the Food for Peace Act (7 

9 U.S.C. 1725(f)) is amended by striking ‘‘2018’’ and in10 serting ‘‘2028’’. 

11 (d) DEADLINE FOR ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS.— 

12 Section 207(c)(1) of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 

13 1726a(c)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘the Agricultural Act 

14 of 2014’’ and inserting ‘‘the Food and Farm Act’’. 

15 (e) PROGRAM OVERSIGHT, MONITORING, AND EVAL16 UATION.—Section 207(f)(4) of the Food for Peace Act (7 

17 U.S.C. 1726a(f)(4)) is amended— 

18 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘2018’’ 

19 both places it appears and inserting ‘‘2028’’; and 

20 (2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking ‘‘2018’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘2028’’. 

22 (f) ASSISTANCE FOR STOCKPILING AND RAPID

23 TRANSPORTATION, DELIVERY, AND DISTRIBUTION OF

24 SHELF-STABLE PREPACKAGED FOODS.—Section 208(f) 


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1 of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1726b(f)) is amended 

2 by striking ‘‘2018’’ and inserting ‘‘2028’’. 

3 (g) PREPOSITIONING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMOD4 ITIES.—Section 407(c)(4)(A) of the Food for Peace Act 

5 (7 U.S.C. 1736a(c)(4)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘2018’’ 

6 the both places it appears and inserting ‘‘2028’’. 

7 (h) AGREEMENTS TO FINANCE SALES OR TO PRO8 VIDE OTHER ASSISTANCE.—Section 408 of the Food for 

9 Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1736b) is amended by striking 

10 ‘‘2018’’ and inserting ‘‘2028’’. 

11 (i) MINIMUM LEVEL OF NONEMERGENCY FOOD AS12 SISTANCE.—Section 412(e)(1) of the Food for Peace Act 

13 (7 U.S.C. 1736f(e)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘2018’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘2028’’. 

15 (j) MICRONUTRIENT FORTIFICATION PROGRAMS.— 

16 Section 415(c) of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 

17 1736g–2(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘2018’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘2028’’. 

19 (k) FARMER-TO-FARMER PROGRAM.—Section 501 of 

20 the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1737) is amended in 

21 subsections (d) and (e)(1) by striking ‘‘2018’’ both places 

22 it appears and inserting ‘‘2028’’. 


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1 TITLE IV—NUTRITION 

2 Subtitle A—Increasing Access to 

3 Healthy Foods 

4 SEC. 401. EXPANDING HEALTHY FOOD FINANCING INITIA5 TIVE. 

6 (a) INCLUSION OF INVESTMENTS IN MID-TIER

7 VALUE CHAIN COORDINATION.—Section 243 of the De8 partment of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 

9 U.S.C. 6953) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) by inserting ‘‘, to build and sustain 

12 mid-tier value chain coordination’’ after ‘‘qual13 ity jobs’’; and 

14 (B) by inserting ‘‘and local and regional 

15 food supply networks’’ after ‘‘healthy food re16 tailers’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (c)(2)— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (B)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

20 clause (i); 

21 (ii) by redesignating clause (ii) as 

22 clause (iii); and 

23 (iii) by inserting after clause (ii) the 

24 following new clause: 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to link farmers, ranchers, and 

2 fisheries with local and regional food sup3 ply networks moving agricultural products 

4 of mid-tier value chains to consumers in 

5 underserved areas with moderate- and low6 income populations; and’’; and 

7 (B) in subparagraph (C)(ii)— 

8 (i) by redesignating subclause (VI) as 

9 subclause (VII); and 

10 (ii) by inserting after subclause (V) 

11 the following new subclause: 

12 ‘‘(VI) The project creates or 

13 strengthens a mid-tier value chain.’’. 

14 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 243(b) of the Depart15 ment of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 

16 6953(b)) is amended— 

17 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 

18 (7) as paragraphs (4) through (8), respectively; and 

19 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol20 lowing new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(3) MID-TIER VALUE CHAIN.—The term ‘mid22 tier value chain’ has the meaning given the term in 

23 section 231 of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act 

24 of 2000 (7 U.S.C. 1632a).’’. 


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1 (c) AVAILABILITY OF MANDATORY FUNDING.—Sub2 section (d) of section 243 of the Department of Agri3 culture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6953) is 

4 amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—Of the funds of the Commodity 

6 Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out 

7 the Initiative $25,000,000, to remain available until ex8 pended, for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028..’’. 

9 SEC. 402. HELPING SCHOOLS SERVE HEALTHIER MEALS. 

10 Section 6(f) of the Richard B. Russell National 

11 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1755(f)) is amended— 

12 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking 

13 ‘‘PILOT PROJECT FOR PROCUREMENT OF UNPROC14 ESSED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘PROGRAM FOR PROCUREMENT OF UNPROCESSED

16 FRUITS AND VEGETABLES’’; 

17 (2) by striking ‘‘pilot project’’ each place it ap18 pears and inserting ‘‘program’’; 

19 (3) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol20 lows: 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall facili22 tate the procurement of unprocessed fruits and vege23 tables in not fewer than 15 States receiving funds 

24 under this Act.’’; and 


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1 (4) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(6) FUNDING.— 

4 ‘‘(A) MANDATORY FUNDING.—There is ap5 propriated to carry out this section, including 

6 through the provision of technical assistance, 

7 outreach, and other implementation assistance, 

8 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

9 through 2028. 

10 ‘‘(B) RESERVATION.—Of the funds appro11 priated under subparagraph (A) for a fiscal 

12 year, $6,000,000 shall be used to carry out 

13 technical assistance to eligible vendors to be14 come certified to participate in the program 

15 under this section.’’. 

16 SEC. 403. STRENGTHENING THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 

17 SERVICE LEARNING PROGRAM. 

18 Section 413 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, 

19 and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7633) is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) subsection (b)(4), by inserting ‘‘, to promote 

22 agricultural education, and raise awareness about 

23 the consequences of wasted food and encourage the 

24 implementation of food recovery initiatives to reduce 

25 the quantity of wasted food’’ before the semicolon; 


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1 (2) in subsection (c)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

3 (i) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

4 ‘‘and where food comes from; and’’ and in5 serting ‘‘where food comes from, the con6 sequences of food waste, and food recovery 

7 initiatives;’’; 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

9 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

10 and’’; and 

11 (iii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing new subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(E) have the capacity to execute regional 

14 or national projects that include 2 or more 

15 States.’’; and 

16 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

17 paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(3) RESERVATION.—The majority of the funds 

19 made available to carry out this subsection shall be 

20 reserved for projects that— 

21 ‘‘(A) are larger in scale as compared to 

22 other proposed projects; 

23 ‘‘(B) are national or regional in scope; and 

24 ‘‘(C) include 2 or more States.’’; and 


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1 (3) in subsection (e)(1), by striking the para2 graph and inserting in its place the following new 

3 paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY FUNDING.—Of the funds 

5 available to the Commodity Credit Corporation, the 

6 Secretary shall use $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 

7 years 2024 through 2028 to carry out the Initiative. 

8 Amounts made available under this subsection shall 

9 remain available until expended.’’. 

10 SEC. 404. GUS SCHUMACHER NUTRITION INCENTIVE PRO11 GRAM. 

12 Section 4405(b)(1)(B)(vii) of the Food, Conservation, 

13 and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 7517(b)(1)(B)(vii)) is 

14 amended by adding, after ‘‘farmers’ market’’, the fol15 lowing: ‘‘, community supported agriculture entity, cooper16 ative, local public benefit corporation, nonprofit organiza17 tion, retail food store authorized under the supplemental 

18 nutrition assistance program’’. 

19 Subtitle B—Improving the Supple20 mental Nutrition Assistance 

21 Program 

22 SEC. 411. CONTINUING THE FARMERS’ MARKETS SUPPLE23 MENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 

24 SUPPORT GRANT PROGRAM. 

25 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 


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1 (1) to support the participation of farmers’ 

2 markets in the supplemental nutrition assistance 

3 program by providing equipment and support grants 

4 to new markets and those currently participating in 

5 the program; 

6 (2) to increase access to the supplemental nu7 trition assistance program and participation at farm8 ers’ markets by households that receive program 

9 benefits; and 

10 (3) to support the establishment, expansion, 

11 and promotion of electronic benefits transfer services 

12 at farmers’ markets for the acceptance of program 

13 benefits. 

14 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.—To 

15 carry out the purposes of this section, the Secretary of 

16 Agriculture shall establish a program to make grants each 

17 fiscal year to eligible entities to conduct tasks that are 

18 necessary for the supplemental nutrition assistance pro19 gram to operate at farmers’ markets, and to increase the 

20 frequency and effectiveness of farmers’ market participa21 tion in the supplemental nutrition assistance program. 

22 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

23 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti24 ty’’ means— 


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1 (A) a Native American tribal organization 

2 nonprofit organization; 

3 (B) a Native American tribal government; 

4 (C) a State or unit of general purpose local 

5 government of a State; 

6 (D) a farmers’ market association; 

7 (E) a public benefit corporation; 

8 (F) an economic development corporation; 

9 (G) a regional farmers’ market authority; 

10 or 

11 (H) a nonprofit organization engaged in 

12 farmers’ market management. 

13 (2) SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE

14 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘supplemental nutrition as15 sistance program’’ means the supplemental nutrition 

16 assistance program as defined in section 3 of the 

17 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012). 

18 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

19 the several States or the District of Columbia. 

20 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of the 

22 fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 


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1 SEC. 412. EXPANDING AND INCREASING SUPPORT FOR THE 

2 FOOD INSECURITY NUTRITION INCENTIVES 

3 PROGRAM. 

4 Section 4405 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy 

5 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 7517) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (f)(1), by striking 

7 ‘‘$5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 

8 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,000,000 for each of fiscal 

9 years 2023 and each fiscal year thereafter’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (f)(2), by amending subpara11 graph (G) to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(G) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2023 and 

13 each fiscal year thereafter.’’. 

14 SEC. 413. CLOSING THE MEAL GAP. 

15 (a) CALCULATION OF PROGRAM BENEFITS.—The 

16 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) 

17 is amended— 

18 (1) in section 3 (7 U.S.C. 2012)— 

19 (A) by striking subsection (u); 

20 (B) by redesignating subsections (n) 

21 through (t) as subsections (o) through (u), re22 spectively; and 

23 (C) by inserting after subsection (m) the 

24 following: 

25 ‘‘(n) ‘Low-cost food plan’ means the diet required to 

26 feed a family of four persons, consisting of a man and 


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1 a woman nineteen through fifty, a child six through eight, 

2 and a child nine through eleven years of age, determined 

3 in accordance with the Secretary’s calculations. The cost 

4 of such diet shall be the basis for uniform allotments for 

5 all households regardless of their actual composition, ex6 cept that the Secretary shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) make household-size adjustments (based 

8 on the unrounded cost of such diet) taking into ac9 count economies of scale; 

10 ‘‘(2) make cost adjustments in the low-cost food 

11 plan for Hawaii and the urban and rural parts of 

12 Alaska to reflect the cost of food in Hawaii and 

13 urban and rural Alaska; 

14 ‘‘(3) make cost adjustments in the separate 

15 low-cost food plans for Guam, and the Virgin Is16 lands of the United States, to reflect the cost of food 

17 in those States, but not to exceed the cost of food 

18 in the 50 States and the District of Columbia; and 

19 ‘‘(4) on October 1, 2024, and each October 1 

20 thereafter, adjust the cost of the diet to reflect the 

21 cost of the diet in the preceding June, and round the 

22 result to the nearest lower dollar increment for each 

23 household size.’’; 

24 (2) in section 8(a) (7 U.S.C. 2017(a))— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘thrifty food plan’’ each 

2 place it appears, and inserting ‘‘low-cost food 

3 plan’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘8 percent’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘10 percent’’; 

6 (3) in section 16(c)(1)(A)(ii) (7 U.S.C. 

7 2025(c)(1)(A)(ii))— 

8 (A) in subclause (I) by striking ‘‘for fiscal 

9 year 2014, at an amount not greater than $37’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘for fiscal year 2024, at an 

11 amount not greater than $50’’; and 

12 (B) in subclause (II)— 

13 (i) by striking ‘‘June 30, 2013’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘June 30, 2024’’; and 

15 (ii) by striking ‘‘thrifty food plan’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘low-cost food plan’’; and 

17 (4) in section 19(a)(2)(A) (7 U.S.C. 

18 2028(a)(2)(A))— 

19 (A) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

20 end; 

21 (B) in clause (ii) by striking the period at 

22 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

24 ‘‘(iii) for fiscal year 2024, 

25 $2,650,000,000; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) subject to the availability of ap2 propriations under section 18(a), for fiscal 

3 year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter, 

4 the amount determined under clause (iii), 

5 as adjusted by the percentage by which the 

6 low-cost food plan has been adjusted under 

7 section 3(n)(4) between June 30, 2024, 

8 and June 30 of the immediately preceding 

9 fiscal year.’’. 

10 (b) STANDARD MEDICAL EXPENSE DEDUCTION.— 

11 Section 5(e)(5) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 

12 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(5)) is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘an excess 

14 medical’’ and all that follows through the period at 

15 the end, and inserting ‘‘a standard medical deduc16 tion or to a medical expense deduction of actual 

17 costs for the allowable medical expenses incurred by 

18 the elderly or disabled member, exclusive of special 

19 diets.’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(D) The standard medical expense deduc22 tion shall be equal to $140 for fiscal year 2024, 

23 and for each subsequent fiscal year shall be 

24 equal to the applicable amount for the pre25 ceding fiscal year as adjusted to reflect changes 


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1 for the 12-month period ending the preceding 

2 June 30 in the Consumer Price Index for All 

3 Urban Consumers: Medical Care published by 

4 the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Depart5 ment of Labor, except that for any such fiscal 

6 year the State agency may establish a greater 

7 standard medical expense deduction that satis8 fies cost neutrality standards established by the 

9 Secretary for such fiscal year.’’. 

10 (c) ELIMINATION OF CAP OF EXCESS SHELTER EX11 PENSES.—Section 5(e)(6) of the Food and Nutrition Act 

12 of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(6)) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

14 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 

15 (D) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively. 

16 (d) WORK REQUIREMENT.—Section 6(o)(3) of the 

17 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(o)(3)) 

18 is amended— 

19 (1) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

20 end; 

21 (2) in subparagraph (E) by striking the period 

22 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(F) not offered a position in a program 

2 described in subparagraph (B) or (C) of para3 graph (2).’’. 

4 (e) FUNDING OF EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING PRO5 GRAMS.—Section 16(h)(1)(E)(ii)(II) of the Food and Nu6 trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025(h)(1)(E)(ii)(II)) is 

7 amended by inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) through (E) of’’ 

8 after ‘‘under’’. 

9 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

10 (1) FOOD AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2008.—The 

11 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et 

12 seq.) is amended— 

13 (A) in section 10 (7 U.S.C. 2019) by strik14 ing ‘‘3(p)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(q)’’; 

15 (B) in section 11 (7 U.S.C. 2012)— 

16 (i) in subsection (a)(2) by striking 

17 ‘‘3(t)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(u)(1)’’; and 

18 (ii) in subsection (d)— 

19 (I) by striking ‘‘3(t)(1)’’ each 

20 place it appears and inserting 

21 ‘‘3(u)(1)’’; and 

22 (II) by striking ‘‘3(t)(2)’’ each 

23 place it appears and inserting 

24 ‘‘3(u)(2)’’; 


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1 (C) in section 19(a)(2)(A)(ii) (7 U.S.C. 

2 (a)(2)(A)(ii)) by striking ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘3(n)(4)’’; and 

4 (D) in section 27(a)(2) (7 U.S.C. 

5 2036(a)(2))— 

6 (i) in subparagraph (C) by striking 

7 ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(n)(4)’’; and 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (E) by striking 

9 ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(n)(4)’’. 

10 (2) LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE

11 ACT OF 1981.—Section 2605(f)(2)(A) of the Low-In12 come Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 

13 U.S.C. 8624(f)(2)(A)) is amended— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘5(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I)’’ and in15 serting ‘‘5(e)(6)(B)(iv)(1)’’; and 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘(7 U.S.C. 

17 2014(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I))’’ and inserting ‘‘(7 U.S.C. 

18 2014(e)(6)(B)(iv)(I))’’. 

19 (g) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—The Food and Nu20 trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is amended— 

21 (1) in section 5(a) (7 U.S.C. 2014(a)) by strik22 ing ‘‘3(n)(4)’’ each place it appears and inserting 

23 ‘‘3(m)(4)’’; 


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1 (2) in section 8(f)(1)(A)(i) (7 U.S.C. 

2 2017(f)(1)(A)(i)) by striking ‘‘3(n)(5)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘3(m)(5)’’; and 

4 (3) in section 17(b)(1)(B)(iv)(III)(aa) (7 U.S.C. 

5 2016(b)(1)(B)(iv)(III)(aa)) by striking ‘‘3(n)’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘3(m)’’. 

7 SEC. 414. FOOD AS MEDICINE. 

8 Section 4405 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy 

9 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 7517) is amended— 

10 (1) by amending subsection (e)(3)(A) to read as 

11 follows: 

12 ‘‘(A) To carry out paragraph (1), the Sec13 retary shall, on a competitive basis, enter into 

14 cooperative agreements with 1 or more organi15 zations with expertise in developing outcome16 based reporting, at least 1 of which has exper17 tise in the food insecurity nutrition incentive 

18 program and at least 1 of which has expertise 

19 in produce prescription projects, in each state 

20 and territory.’’; and 

21 (2) by amending subsection (f)(2) to read as 

22 follows: 

23 ‘‘(2) Of the funds of the Commodity Credit 

24 Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out this 


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1 section $560,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and each 

2 fiscal year thereafter.’’. 

3 TITLE V—FUTURE OF AMERICAN 

4 FARMERS 

5 Subtitle A—Defining Beginning 

6 Farmer or Rancher 

7 SEC. 501. BEGINNING FARMER OR RANCHER DEFINED. 

8 In this title, the term ‘‘beginning farmer or rancher’’ 

9 means an individual or entity who— 

10 (1) has not operated a farm or ranch, or who 

11 has operated a farm or ranch for not more than 10 

12 consecutive years; and 

13 (2) will materially and substantially participate 

14 in the operation of the farm or ranch. 

15 Subtitle B—Providing Resources 

16 for Beginning, Retiring, and So17 cially Disadvantaged Farmers 

18 and Ranchers 

19 SEC. 511. REAUTHORIZATION AND INCREASED FUNDING 

20 FOR OUTREACH AND ASSISTANCE FOR SO21 CIALLY DISADVANTAGED FARMERS AND 

22 RANCHERS AND VETERAN FARMERS AND 

23 RANCHERS. 

24 (a) MANDATORY FUNDING.—Subparagraph (A) of 

25 section 2501(a)(4) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, 


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1 and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(a)(4)) is amended 

2 to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(A) MANDATORY FUNDING.—Of the 

4 funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the 

5 Secretary shall make available to carry out this 

6 section— 

7 ‘‘(i) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(ii) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal 

10 years 2025 through 2028.’’. 

11 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

12 2501(a)(4)(E) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, 

13 and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(a)(4)(E)) is 

14 amended by striking ‘‘2018’’ and inserting ‘‘2028’’. 

15 SEC. 512. ENSURING PERMANENT FUNDING FOR BEGIN16 NING FARMER AND RANCHER DEVELOPMENT 

17 PROGRAM. 

18 Section 7405(h)(1)(C) of the Farm Security and 

19 Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 3319f(h)(1)(C)) 

20 is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘$20,000,000’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘$50,000,000’’; and 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘through 2018’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘and each fiscal year thereafter’’. 


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1 SEC. 513. SUPPORTING BEGINNING FARMER PARTICIPA2 TION IN CERTAIN CONSERVATION PRO3 GRAMS. 

4 Section 1241(h)(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

5 (16 U.S.C. 3841(h)(1)) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘5 per7 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘20 percent’’; and 

8 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘5 per9 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘15 percent’’. 

10 SEC. 514. CREATING A PRIORITY FOR PARTICIPATION OF 

11 BEGINNING FARMERS AND RANCHERS IN 

12 FARMERS’ MARKET AND LOCAL FOOD PRO13 MOTION PROGRAM. 

14 Subsection (e) of section 6 of the Farmer-to-Con15 sumer Direct Marketing Act of 1976 (7 U.S.C. 3005) is 

16 amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(e) PRIORITIES.—In providing grants under the 

18 Program, priority shall be given to applications that in19 clude— 

20 ‘‘(1) projects that will benefit underserved com21 munities, including communities that are located in 

22 areas of concentrated poverty with limited access to 

23 fresh locally or regionally grown food; and 

24 ‘‘(2) with respect to beginning farmers and 

25 ranchers, socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00088 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1824.IH H1824

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1 ers, and veteran farmers, projects in which such 

2 farmers and ranchers are participants.’’. 

3 SEC. 515. SUPPORTING BEGINNING FARMERS AND RANCH4 ERS THROUGH FARM SERVICE AGENCY LIAI5 SONS. 

6 Section 226 of the Department of Agriculture Reor7 ganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6932) is amended by 

8 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(i) BEGINNING FARMERS AND RANCHERS LIAI10 SON.— 

11 ‘‘(1) POSITION ESTABLISHED.—The Secretary 

12 shall establish within each State office of the Con13 solidated Farm Service Agency the position of Be14 ginning Farmers and Ranchers Liaison to carry out 

15 the duties described in paragraph (2). 

16 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Beginning Farmers and 

17 Ranchers Liaison shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) provide technical assistance to begin19 ning farmers and ranchers to direct such farm20 ers and ranchers toward appropriate Federal 

21 resources and opportunities, including available 

22 Federal grant programs; and 

23 ‘‘(B) promote coordination among Federal 

24 programs available to beginning farmers and 

25 ranchers.’’. 


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1 SEC. 516. FACILITATING SUCCESSION PLANNING THROUGH 

2 THE CREATION OF FARM SERVICE AGENCY 

3 REGIONAL PLANNERS. 

4 Section 7405 of the Farm Security and Rural Invest5 ment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 3319f) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub7 section (i); and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol9 lowing new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(h) REGIONAL PLANNERS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es12 tablish a regional planner for each of the 12 regions 

13 identified by the National Agricultural Statistics 

14 Service. 

15 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The regional planners estab16 lished under paragraph (1) shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) establish and maintain one accurate, 

18 current, and unbiased database of resources to 

19 help farmers undertaking succession planning; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(B) coordinate with Federal, State, and 

22 private stakeholders, including land-grant col23 leges and universities and extension service, to 

24 understand farmer and rancher needs in each 

25 state within the respective regions, and to work 

26 with these stakeholders to provide farmers and 


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1 ranchers information regarding relevant succes2 sion planning resources and opportunities based 

3 on those needs.’’. 

4 SEC. 517. ENSURING A VIBRANT AGRICULTURAL SECTOR 

5 THROUGH THE CREATION OF A LAND TEN6 URE COMMISSION. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

9 Agriculture shall establish a commission to be known as 

10 the Land Tenure Commission (in this section referred to 

11 as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

12 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

13 (1) TOTAL MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission 

14 shall be comprised of 10 members who shall be ap15 pointed by the Secretary for a term of 3 years in ac16 cordance with paragraph (2). 

17 (2) MEMBERS.—The Commission members 

18 shall include one representative from each the fol19 lowing categories: 

20 (A) The Farm Service Agency. 

21 (B) The Natural Resources Conservation 

22 Service. 

23 (C) State programs focused on land ten24 ure. 


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1 (D) Private nonprofit organizations with 

2 active land tenure programs. 

3 (E) The Cooperative State Research, Edu4 cation, and Extension Service. 

5 (F) Community colleges or other institu6 tions of higher education with demonstrated ex7 perience in land tenure issues. 

8 (G) Other entities or persons providing 

9 lending for, or technical assistance regarding, 

10 land tenure. 

11 (H) Beginning farmers and ranchers. 

12 (I) Socially disadvantaged farmers and 

13 ranchers. 

14 (J) Veteran farmers and ranchers. 

15 (K) Retiring or retired farmers and ranch16 ers. 

17 (3) REAPPOINTMENT.—The Secretary of Agri18 culture may reappoint members of the Commission 

19 to a subsequent 3-year term. 

20 (4) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Commis21 sion may not receive any compensation. 

22 (5) VACANCIES.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

23 shall make appointments to fill vacancies on the 

24 Commission as soon as practicable after the vacancy 

25 has occurred. 


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1 (c) DUTIES.—The Commission shall— 

2 (1) advise the Secretary of Agriculture on 

3 issues involving access to land, farm business transi4 tion, and land tenure, including trends in ownership 

5 and the status of farmland ownership; 

6 (2) with respect to the Commission’s activities, 

7 coordinate and consult with entities involved with 

8 farmland ownership and operation; 

9 (3) appoint technical advisors, comprised of 

10 representatives from the National Agricultural Sta11 tistics Service of the Department of Agriculture, 

12 not-for-profit organizations that assist farmers and 

13 ranchers transitioning in and out of agricultural 

14 business, and farm succession planners with exper15 tise in the field; and 

16 (4) focus efforts of Federal agency staff and 

17 programs toward ensuring the long-term sustain18 ability of the agriculture sector. 

19 (d) REPORTS.—The Commission shall submit an an20 nual report to Congress that includes— 

21 (1) a summary of the activities of the Commis22 sion; and 

23 (2) recommendations with respect to access to 

24 land, farm business transition, and land tenure, in25 cluding recommendations for Federal policy changes. 


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1 Subtitle C—Creating Financial In2 centives to Benefit Beginning 

3 Farmers and Ranchers 

4 SEC. 521. REMOVING BARRIERS TO FARMING THROUGH AN 

5 ELIGIBLE FARMER TAX CREDIT. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part IV of sub7 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

8 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

9 section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 30E. ELIGIBLE FARMER CREDITS. 

11 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBLE FARMER PROPERTY SALE CREDIT.— 

12 In the case of a taxpayer who sells qualified farming prop13 erty to an eligible farmer during the taxable year, there 

14 shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by 

15 this chapter for such taxable year an amount equal to 10 

16 percent of the sales price of such property. 

17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE FARMER PROPERTY PURCHASE

18 CREDIT.—In the case of a taxpayer who is an eligible 

19 farmer and purchases qualified farming property during 

20 the taxable year, there shall be allowed as a credit against 

21 the tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an 

22 amount equal 10 percent of the purchase price of such 

23 property. 

24 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE FARMER.—For purposes of this 

2 section— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible 

4 farmer’ means— 

5 ‘‘(i) any socially disadvantaged farmer 

6 or rancher, as defined in section 

7 2501(e)(2) of the Food, Agriculture, Con8 servation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 

9 U.S.C. 2279(e)(2)), 

10 ‘‘(ii) any veteran farmer or rancher 

11 (as defined in section 2501(e)(7) of such 

12 Act (7 U.S.C. 2279(e)(7))), or 

13 ‘‘(iii) any beginning farmer or ranch14 er. 

15 ‘‘(B) BEGINNING FARMER OR RANCHER.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘begin17 ning farmer or rancher’ means an indi18 vidual or entity who— 

19 ‘‘(I) has not operated a farm or 

20 ranch, or who has operated a farm or 

21 ranch for not more than 10 consecu22 tive years, and 

23 ‘‘(II) will materially and substan24 tially participate in the operation of 

25 the farm or ranch. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) MATERIAL AND SUBSTANTIAL

2 PARTICIPATION.—For purposes of clause 

3 (i), the term ‘material and substantial par4 ticipation’ means— 

5 ‘‘(I) in the case of an individual, 

6 that the individual provides substan7 tial day-to-day labor and management 

8 of the farm or ranch, consistent with 

9 the practices in the county or State 

10 where the farm is located, and 

11 ‘‘(II) in the case of an entity, 

12 that all shareholders, holders of a cap13 ital or profits interest in the case of a 

14 partnership, or holders of a beneficial 

15 interest in the case of a trust or coop16 erative provide some amount of the 

17 management or labor necessary for 

18 day-to-day activities such that if each 

19 of the members did not provide these 

20 inputs, operation of the farm or ranch 

21 would be seriously impaired. 

22 ‘‘(iii) PREDECESSOR.—Any prede23 cessor of any entity shall be treated as 

24 such entity for purposes of clause (i)(I). 


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1 ‘‘(iv) AGGREGATION RULES.—All per2 sons which are treated as a single em3 ployer under subsections (a) and (b) of 

4 section 52 shall be treated as a single em5 ployer for purposes of this subparagraph. 

6 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED FARMING PROPERTY.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

8 farming property’ means any property— 

9 ‘‘(i) which is used in the trade or 

10 business of farming or ranching in the 

11 United States, and 

12 ‘‘(ii) which is— 

13 ‘‘(I) property of a character sub14 ject to an allowance for depreciation, 

15 or 

16 ‘‘(II) land used for the produc17 tion of crops, fruits, or other agricul18 tural products or for the sustenance 

19 of livestock. 

20 In the case of any tree, vine, or livestock 

21 which is not subject to an allowance for de22 preciation solely by reason of not having 

23 reached the income-producing stage or age 

24 of maturity, as the case may be, such tree, 

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1 erty of a character subject to an allowance 

2 for depreciation for purposes of this sec3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(B) LAND USE MUST BE RESTRICTED AG5 RICULTURAL USE.—Such term shall not include 

6 any land which is not subject to a State agricul7 tural land preservation program, permanent ag8 ricultural conservation easement, is not valued 

9 as agricultural land using special use valuation 

10 requirements, or is not under another long-term 

11 or permanent protection. 

12 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—No credit 

14 shall be allowed to a taxpayer under this section un15 less, at such time and in such form and manner as 

16 the Secretary shall prescribe— 

17 ‘‘(A) there is submitted to the Secretary a 

18 description of the qualified farming property 

19 with respect to which the credit under this sec20 tion is determined, 

21 ‘‘(B) the eligible farmer submits to the 

22 Secretary an attestation of intent to treat such 

23 property as qualified farming property during 

24 the 8-year period beginning on the date of the 


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1 sale or purchase to which this section applies, 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(C) the taxpayer who sells such property 

4 in the case of any credit determined under sub5 section (a), and the eligible farmer who pur6 chases such property in the case of any credit 

7 determined under subsection (b), submits to the 

8 Secretary an agreement consenting to the appli9 cation of paragraph (2). 

10 ‘‘(2) RECAPTURE.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If any property with 

12 respect to which a credit is allowed under this 

13 section ceases to be qualified farming property 

14 during the 8-year period beginning on the date 

15 of the sale or purchase to which this section ap16 plies, the tax imposed by this chapter for the 

17 taxable year during which such property so 

18 ceases shall be increased by the applicable per19 centage of the amount of credit allowed under 

20 this section with respect to such property. 

21 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For 

22 purposes of this paragraph, in the case of prop23 erty which ceases to be qualified farming prop24 erty during the 8-year period, the applicable 


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1 percentage shall be determined under the fol2 lowing table: 

‘‘For property which so 

ceases during: 

The applicable 

percentage is: 

The first or second year .................................................... 100 percent

The third or fourth year ................................................... 75 percent

The fifth or sixth year ...................................................... 50 percent

The seventh or eighth year ............................................... 25 percent. 

3 ‘‘(C) PROPERTY BEYOND ACTUAL USEFUL

4 LIFE.—For purposes of this paragraph, prop5 erty which, during such 8-year period, is no 

6 longer capable of being used in the trade or 

7 business of farming shall be treated as ceasing 

8 to be qualified farming property. 

9 ‘‘(3) RELATED PARTY RULES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A sale or purchase 

11 shall only be taken into account under this sec12 tion if the property is not acquired from a per13 son related to the person acquiring such prop14 erty (or, if married, such individual’s spouse). 

15 ‘‘(B) RELATED PERSONS.—A person shall 

16 be treated as related to another person if the 

17 relationship between such persons would result 

18 in the disallowance of losses under section 267 

19 or 707(b). 

20 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION WITH OTHER CREDITS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) BUSINESS CREDIT TREATED AS PART

22 OF GENERAL BUSINESS CREDIT.—So much of 


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1 the credit which would be allowed under this 

2 section for any taxable year (determined with3 out regard to this paragraph) that is attrib4 utable to property that is land used in a trade 

5 or business of the taxpayer, or that in the 

6 hands of the taxpayer is of a character subject 

7 to an allowance for depreciation, shall be treat8 ed as a credit listed in section 38(b) for such 

9 taxable year (and not allowed under this sec10 tion). 

11 ‘‘(B) PERSONAL CREDIT.—The credit al12 lowed under subsection (a) (after the applica13 tion of paragraph (1)) for any taxable year 

14 shall be treated as a credit allowable under sub15 part A for such taxable year. 

16 ‘‘(5) REDUCTION IN BASIS.—For purposes of 

17 this subtitle, the basis of any property for which a 

18 credit is allowable under this section shall be re19 duced by the amount of such credit so allowed.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 38(b) of 

21 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of 

22 paragraph (35), by striking the period at the end of para23 graph (36) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the 

24 end the following new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(37) the portion of the eligible farmer credit to 

2 which section 30E(d)(3)(A) applies.’’. 

3 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

4 for subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

5 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 30E. Eligible farmer credits.’’. 

7 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

9 December 31, 2024. 

10 SEC. 522. ENSURING FARM SERVICE FACILITY LOANS CAN 

11 SERVE AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES. 

12 Section 1614(a) of the Food, Conservation, and En13 ergy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8789(a)) is amended by insert14 ing ‘‘(including agricultural cooperatives)’’ after ‘‘for pro15 ducers’’. 

16 SEC. 523. LOANS TO COOPERATIVES. 

17 Section 316(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 

18 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1946(a)) is amended by add19 ing at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(3) LOANS TO COOPERATIVES.—Notwith21 standing subtitle A or this subtitle, the liability for 

22 a farm ownership loan or farm operating loan under 

23 such subtitles to a cooperative of family farm farm24 ers shall be required to attach to the individual 


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1 members of the cooperative, as determined by the 

2 Secretary.’’. 

3 TITLE VI—FOOD WASTE 

4 SEC. 601. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING REDUCING 

5 FOOD WASTE. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find7 ings: 

8 (1) Up to 40 percent of food in the United 

9 States is wasted, the equivalent of 1,250 calories per 

10 person, per day, and more than 400 pounds of food 

11 per person, per year. 

12 (2) Growing, processing, transporting, and dis13 posing of uneaten food is a significant burden on the 

14 United States economy, costing approximately 

15 $218,000,000,000 annually. 

16 (3) Considerable resources in the United States 

17 are invested in the production of food that is eventu18 ally wasted, including an estimated 18 percent of 

19 fertilizer used in agricultural production, 19 percent 

20 of crop land, and 21 percent of agricultural water 

21 usage. 

22 (4) Growing, processing, transporting, and dis23 posing of food that is eventually wasted contributes 

24 to greenhouse gas emissions. 


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1 (5) Disposing of uneaten food costs the average 

2 household of four in the United States an estimated 

3 $1,800 annually. 

4 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—In light of the findings 

5 made in subsection (a), it is the sense of Congress that 

6 the Federal Government should invest in programs, meth7 odologies, and actions to reduce food waste across the 

8 United States at the Federal, State, and local levels, in9 cluding by— 

10 (1) providing targeted funding for food waste 

11 solutions; 

12 (2) improving and standardizing the measure13 ment and reporting of food waste data; 

14 (3) standardizing food date labels; 

15 (4) removing barriers to food donation; 

16 (5) supporting and encouraging local and re17 gional efforts to reduce food waste; and 

18 (6) engaging and educating the American public 

19 on how to reduce food waste. 

20 SEC. 602. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF FOOD WASTE. 

21 Subtitle D of the Department of Agriculture Reorga22 nization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6951 et seq.) is amended 

23 by adding at the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 244. OFFICE OF FOOD WASTE. 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab3 lish within the executive operations of the Department an 

4 office to be known as the ‘Office of Food Waste’. 

5 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Office of Food Waste 

6 shall be responsible— 

7 ‘‘(1) for coordinating Federal programs to 

8 measure and reduce the incidence of food waste in 

9 the United States by serving as the central office 

10 within the Department for food waste reduction ef11 forts, including food waste prevention, food dona12 tion, recovery of surplus food for commercial pur13 poses, and food scrap recycling; 

14 ‘‘(2) for providing information about and rais15 ing awareness of food waste issues across sectors of 

16 the United States economy and across Federal agen17 cies; and 

18 ‘‘(3) for serving as the primary point of contact 

19 for food waste reduction and food recovery issues 

20 within the Department and across Federal agencies. 

21 ‘‘(c) FUNDING.—Of the funds of the Commodity 

22 Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out 

23 this section $100,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

24 2024 through 2028.’’. 


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1 SEC. 603. ESTABLISHMENT OF FOOD LOSS AND WASTE RE2 DUCTION TASK FORCE. 

3 Subtitle D of the Department of Agriculture Reorga4 nization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6951 et seq.) is further 

5 amended by inserting after section 244, as added by sec6 tion 602, the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 245. FOOD LOSS AND WASTE REDUCTION TASK 

8 FORCE. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

10 the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 

11 of Agriculture, in consultation with the Administrator of 

12 the Environmental Protection Agency, shall establish, in 

13 the office of the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and 

14 Consumer Services, a task force— 

15 ‘‘(1) to advise and support the Secretary and 

16 the Administrator in meeting the national food 

17 waste reduction goal of 50 percent by 2030, as spec18 ified in the announcement made on September 16, 

19 2015, by the Secretary and the Administrator; 

20 ‘‘(2) to provide strategic direction for efforts to 

21 meet the national food waste reduction goal; 

22 ‘‘(3) to monitor progress toward meeting the 

23 national food waste reduction goal; 

24 ‘‘(4) to support effective public reporting in the 

25 United States regarding progress toward meeting 


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1 the national food waste reduction goal and any rel2 evant benchmarks in meeting such goal; 

3 ‘‘(5) to raise public awareness and visibility of 

4 the national food waste reduction goal in the United 

5 States; and 

6 ‘‘(6) to recommend improvements to Federal ef7 forts to meet the national food waste reduction goal. 

8 ‘‘(b) COMPOSITION.—The task force shall be com9 posed of 15 members, appointed jointly by the Secretary 

10 and the Administrator. The task force shall include a rep11 resentative from each of the following industries and inter12 est groups: 

13 ‘‘(1) The agriculture industry. 

14 ‘‘(2) The food processing and manufacturing in15 dustry. 

16 ‘‘(3) The food distribution industry. 

17 ‘‘(4) The retail and grocery industry. 

18 ‘‘(5) The restaurant industry. 

19 ‘‘(6) The institutional food service industry. 

20 ‘‘(7) Government, private, and nonprofit enti21 ties focused on nutrition. 

22 ‘‘(8) Government, private, and nonprofit enti23 ties focused on consumer education. 

24 ‘‘(9) Government, private, and nonprofit enti25 ties focused on food waste entrepreneurship. 


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1 ‘‘(10) Nonprofit entities focused on food waste 

2 prevention. 

3 ‘‘(11) Government, private, and nonprofit enti4 ties focused on food donation. 

5 ‘‘(12) Government, private, and nonprofit enti6 ties focused on food scrap recycling. 

7 ‘‘(13) Educational institutions focused on food 

8 systems and food waste. 

9 ‘‘(14) A State or local government with a food 

10 waste reduction program. 

11 ‘‘(15) A scientist who specializes in the science 

12 of food scrap recycling and other relevant scientific 

13 processes. 

14 ‘‘(c) TERMS.—A member of the task force shall serve 

15 on the task force for a single term of 3 years. A member 

16 may not be reappointed. Any vacancy shall be filled within 

17 60 days in the same manner as the original appoint18 ment.’’. 

19 SEC. 604. STANDARDIZING, AGGREGATING, AND PUB20 LISHING FOOD WASTE DATA. 

21 (a) METHODOLOGY FOR MEASURING FOOD

22 WASTE.—Not later than 18 months after the date of the 

23 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

24 establish, through a rule made in accordance with section 

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1 ology for consistently measuring food waste in the United 

2 States economy, such as— 

3 (1) on-farm losses during agricultural produc4 tion and harvesting; 

5 (2) losses during processing and distribution; 

6 (3) kitchen waste and post-consumer waste 

7 from the restaurant and hospitality industries; 

8 (4) food waste occurring in schools and other 

9 institutions; and 

10 (5) food waste occurring in other industries. 

11 (b) METHODOLOGY FOR AGGREGATING AND DIS12 SEMINATING DATA.—The methodology established under 

13 subsection (a) shall include aggregating and disseminating 

14 any data or information collected with respect to food 

15 waste. The methodology shall incorporate tools for describ16 ing why food waste occurs and the type of food wasted 

17 and take into account existing protocols and tools that 

18 may serve as resources. 

19 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—Information 

20 collected with respect to food waste shall be made available 

21 through a publicly accessible internet website of the De22 partment of Agriculture, which may be disaggregated by 

23 private sector and State or local government data. 


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1 (d) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

2 shall carry out this section in consultation with the Admin3 istrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

4 TITLE VII—RESEARCH, EXTEN5 SION, AND RELATED MAT6 TERS 

7 Subtitle A—Investing in 

8 Sustainable Agriculture 

9 SEC. 701. SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE RESEARCH, EXTEN10 SION, AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 

11 (a) FEDERAL-STATE GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 

12 1623 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade 

13 Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5813) is amended— 

14 (1) in the section heading, by striking 

15 ‘‘MATCHING’’; 

16 (2) in subsection (a)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘matching’’; and 

18 (B) by inserting ‘‘and centers’’ after ‘‘edu19 cation programs’’; 

20 (3) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ‘‘, and shall 

21 identify the sources of matching State funds for the 

22 same fiscal year’’; and 

23 (4) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol24 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(d) DURATION.—The Secretary shall provide grants 

2 to eligible States for a period not to exceed 5 years.’’. 

3 (b) MANDATORY FUNDING.—Section 1624 of the 

4 Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 

5 (7 U.S.C. 5814) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 1624. MANDATORY FUNDING. 

7 ‘‘Of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, 

8 the Secretary shall make available to carry out this chap9 ter $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

10 2028.’’. 

11 SEC. 702. NATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM. 

12 Section 1629(i) of the Food, Agriculture, Conserva13 tion, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5832(i)) is amend14 ed to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(i) MANDATORY FUNDING.—Of the funds of the 

16 Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall make 

17 available to carry out this section $25,000,000 for each 

18 of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.’’. 

19 Subtitle B—Supporting Research 

20 to Help Farmers Adapt to a Dis21 rupted Climate 

22 SEC. 711. COMPETITIVE, SPECIAL, AND FACILITIES 

23 GRANTS. 

24 Section 2 of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities 

25 Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 3157) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (b)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end 

3 the following new subparagraph: 

4 ‘‘(G) PLANT AND ANIMAL BREEDING.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Classical animal 

6 and plant breeding— 

7 ‘‘(I) intended to deliver public 

8 plant cultivars and animal breeds; 

9 ‘‘(II) to achieve germplasm con10 servation; and 

11 ‘‘(III) to improve public access 

12 and use of such cultivars and breeds. 

13 ‘‘(ii) PRIORITY.—With respect to the 

14 breeding described in clause (i), the Sec15 retary shall give priority to— 

16 ‘‘(I) regionally adapted cultivars 

17 and breeds; and 

18 ‘‘(II) breeds that perform well in 

19 organic and sustainable production 

20 systems.’’; 

21 (B) in paragraph (7), by inserting ‘‘, in22 cluding nonprofit organizations, private labora23 tories, Federal research entities, and other re24 search entities not affiliated with a university’’ 

25 after ‘‘organizations’’; 


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1 (C) by striking paragraph (9); and 

2 (D) in paragraph (11)(A)— 

3 (i) by striking ‘‘$700,000,000’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘$900,000,000’’; and 

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘2018’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘2028’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (k)— 

8 (A) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘AND CLI9 MATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION’’ 

10 after ‘‘AGRICULTURE’’; and 

11 (B) by inserting ‘‘and climate change miti12 gation and adaptation’’ after ‘‘systems of sus13 tainable agriculture’’. 

14 SEC. 712. SPECIALTY CROP RESEARCH INITIATIVE. 

15 (a) ELEMENTS OF INITIATIVE.—Section 412(b) of 

16 the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Re17 form Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7632(b)) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

19 (A) by inserting ‘‘and improve the resil20 iency of such crops towards global climate 

21 change’’ after ‘‘crop characteristics’’; and 

22 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, 

23 with priority given to responses and tolerances 

24 to global climate change’’ after ‘‘tolerances’’; 

25 and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and threats 

2 due to global climate change’’ after ‘‘pollinators’’. 

3 (b) MANDATORY FUNDING.—Section 412(k)(1)(B) of 

4 the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Re5 form Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7632(k)(1)(B)) is amended 

6 by striking ‘‘$80,000,000 for fiscal year 2014 and each 

7 fiscal year thereafter’’ and inserting ‘‘$100,000,000 for 

8 fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter’’. 

9 TITLE VIII—ANIMAL WELFARE 

10 Subtitle A—Ensuring Animal 

11 Welfare in Farming 

12 SEC. 801. DEFINITIONS FOR HUMANELY RAISED LIVE13 STOCK AND POULTRY CERTIFICATION PRO14 GRAMS. 

15 In this subtitle: 

16 (1) INDEPENDENT ANIMAL WELFARE CERTIFI17 CATION PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘independent animal 

18 welfare certification program’’ means an entity ap19 proved by the Secretary of Agriculture that uses 

20 qualified third-party on-farm auditors to routinely 

21 assess a producer’s 100 percent compliance with 

22 specific animal welfare standards exceeding industry 

23 standards (based on industry guidelines), subject to 

24 the following conditions: 


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1 (A) The standards’ protocols are made 

2 public. 

3 (B) The standards include, at a minimum, 

4 provisions for space allowance, environmental 

5 enrichment and ability to engage in natural be6 haviors, pain control and physical alternations, 

7 handling, and responsible antibiotic use. 

8 (C) Routine caging, crating or tethering of 

9 animals is prohibited. 

10 (D) Auditors have no vested or financial 

11 interest in audit outcomes. 

12 (E) Auditors possess a background in ani13 mal welfare science or have received equivalent 

14 training, and are able to recognize, review, and 

15 apply established farm animal welfare stand16 ards and protocols. 

17 (2) ELIGIBLE COSTS.—The term ‘‘eligible 

18 costs’’ means costs associated with application fees, 

19 inspections, labeling, shipment and marketing. 

20 SEC. 802. INCREASING MARKET ACCESS FOR HUMANELY 

21 RAISED LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY CERTIFI22 CATION PROGRAMS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act24 ing through the Agricultural Marketing Service, shall es25 tablish a cost-share program to assist producers and hanVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00115 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1824.IH H1824

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1 dlers of livestock and poultry products in obtaining and 

2 maintaining animal welfare certifications through an inde3 pendent animal welfare certification program. 

4 (b) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Secretary may cover not 

5 more than 75 percent of the eligible costs, but not to ex6 ceed $750, incurred by a producer or handler in obtaining 

7 and maintaining an animal welfare certification through 

8 an independent animal welfare certification program. 

9 (c) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 

10 March 1 of each year, the Secretary shall submit to the 

11 Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives 

12 and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For13 estry of the Senate a report that describes the requests 

14 by, disbursements to, and expenditures for each State 

15 under the program during the current and previous fiscal 

16 year, including the number of producers and handlers 

17 served by the program in the previous fiscal year. 

18 (d) FUNDING.— 

19 (1) MANDATORY FUNDING.—Of the funds of 

20 the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary 

21 shall make available to carry out this section 

22 $1,250,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

23 2028, to remain available until expended. 

24 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

25 There is authorized to be appropriated $22,000,000 


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1 for fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out this 

2 section. 

3 SEC. 803. ANIMAL WELFARE TAX INCENTIVES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub5 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

7 section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 45U. INDEPENDENT ANIMAL WELFARE CERTIFI9 CATION CREDIT. 

10 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38, 

11 in the case of an eligible taxpayer, the independent animal 

12 welfare certification credit determined under this section 

13 for any taxable year is an amount equal to 25 percent 

14 of the qualified independent animal welfare certification 

15 expenditures paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the 

16 taxable year, and not exceeding $150,000. 

17 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED INDEPENDENT ANIMAL WELFARE

18 CERTIFICATION EXPENDITURES.—For purposes of this 

19 section— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified inde21 pendent animal welfare certification expenditures’ 

22 means amounts paid or incurred for the purpose of 

23 complying with the animal welfare standards and 

24 protocols of an independent animal welfare certifi25 cation, including— 


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1 ‘‘(A) any amounts so paid or incurred for 

2 infrastructure improvements for the purpose of 

3 complying with such standards and protocols 

4 related to providing animals with access to the 

5 outdoors, pastures, or enriching indoor environ6 ments, including— 

7 ‘‘(i) fencing to enable pasture access, 

8 ‘‘(ii) mobile or permanent housing or 

9 shelter on pasture, 

10 ‘‘(iii) water lines and irrigation struc11 tures for watering animals, 

12 ‘‘(iv) infrastructure to enable free 

13 movement of animals indoors, 

14 ‘‘(v) enrichment materials to encour15 age animals to carry out natural behaviors 

16 like rooting, pecking, and perching, and 

17 ‘‘(vi) infrastructure to improve ven18 tilation and provide natural light, and 

19 ‘‘(B) certification, including— 

20 ‘‘(i) the cost of initial certification, 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the cost of certification auditing 

23 during the recapture period. 

24 ‘‘(2) EXPENDITURES MUST BE DIRECTLY RE25 LATED TO CERTIFICATION.—The term ‘qualified 


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1 independent animal welfare certification expendi2 tures’ shall only include amounts directly related to 

3 complying with animal welfare standards and proto4 cols of an independent animal welfare certification. 

5 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

6 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER.—The term ‘eligible 

7 taxpayer’ means any taxpayer which carries on a 

8 trade or business of farming livestock or poultry who 

9 has an adjusted gross income of less than $900,000. 

10 ‘‘(2) INDEPENDENT ANIMAL WELFARE CERTIFI11 CATION.—The term ‘independent animal welfare cer12 tification’ means a certification issued pursuant to a 

13 value-added certification program which has been 

14 approved by the Secretary of Agriculture as meeting 

15 each of the following requirements: 

16 ‘‘(A) Such program uses qualified, inde17 pendent, on-farm auditors to assess, at least 

18 once in a 15 month period, a producer’s compli19 ance with specific farm animal welfare stand20 ards. 

21 ‘‘(B) Such program uses a certification 

22 protocol and standards that are publicly avail23 able. 

24 ‘‘(C) The standards used in such program 

25 exceed conventional industry standards, based 


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1 on industry guidelines published by animal 

2 trade associations, prohibit routine caging, crat3 ing, and tethering of animals, and include, at a 

4 minimum, provisions for daily free access to an 

5 outdoor vegetated range area for a majority of 

6 animals’ lives, indoor and outdoor space allow7 ance, environmental enrichment, ability to en8 gage in natural behaviors, pain control and 

9 physical alterations, animal handling and trans10 port, and responsible antibiotic use. 

11 ‘‘(D) The auditors used in such program 

12 have no vested or financial interest in audit 

13 outcomes and possess a background in animal 

14 welfare science, or have received equivalent 

15 training, and are able to recognize and apply 

16 established farm animal welfare standards and 

17 protocols. 

18 ‘‘(E) Such program requires producers to 

19 comply with 100 percent of standards to receive 

20 certification. 

21 ‘‘(d) RECAPTURE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any taxpayer 

23 with respect to which a credit of $75,000 or more 

24 is determined under this section for any taxable year 

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1 pendent animal welfare certification at any time dur2 ing the recapture period, the taxpayer may be sub3 ject to recapture of some or all of the credit, at the 

4 discretion of the Internal Revenue Service. 

5 ‘‘(2) RECAPTURE PERIOD.—For purposes of 

6 this section, the term ‘recapture period’ means the 

7 5-taxable-year period beginning with the taxable 

8 year two years after the taxable year for which a 

9 credit of $75,000 or more is determined under this 

10 section.’’. 

11 (b) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

12 CREDIT.—Section 38(b) of such Code is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph 

14 (32); 

15 (2) by striking the period at the end of para16 graph (33) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(34) in the case of an eligible taxpayer (as de20 fined in section 45U(c)(1), the independent animal 

21 welfare certification credit determined under section 

22 45U.’’. 

23 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

24 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 


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1 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45U. Independent animal welfare certification credit.’’.’’. 

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred during 

5 taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023. 

6 Subtitle B—Reforming Animal Wel7 fare in Agricultural Research 

8 Endeavors 

9 SEC. 811. ANIMAL WELFARE. 

10 Section 14 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 

11 2144) is amended— 

12 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Any’’ and 

13 inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

15 any Federal research facility or any other’’; 

16 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘Any’’ 

17 and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) ANIMAL EXHIBITION.—Any’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(3) EXCLUSIONS NOT APPLICABLE.—For pur22 poses of the application of standards and other re23 quirements described in paragraph (1) to a Federal 

24 research facility or any other department, agency, or 

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1 tory animal facilities, the exclusions contained in 

2 section 2(g)(3) shall not apply.’’. 

3 SEC. 812. ESTABLISHING A RESEARCH AND EXTENSION 

4 PROGRAM FOR HUMANELY RAISED LIVE5 STOCK AND POULTRY CERTIFICATIONS. 

6 (a) CONSUMER DEMAND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE AND

7 ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS.—Section 

8 1402(6) of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, 

9 and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3101(6)) is 

10 amended by inserting before the semicolon the following: 

11 ‘‘, and meet growing consumer demand for animal welfare, 

12 environmental sustainability, pasture-based rearing, and 

13 compliance with independent animal welfare certifi14 cations’’. 

15 (b) INDEPENDENT ANIMAL WELFARE CERTIFI16 CATION PROGRAM DEFINED.—Section 1404 of the Na17 tional Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching 

18 Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103) is amended by adding 

19 at the end the following new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(21) INDEPENDENT ANIMAL WELFARE CER21 TIFICATION PROGRAM.—The term ‘Independent ani22 mal welfare certification program’ has the meaning 

23 given that term in section 801(1) of the Food and 

24 Farm Act.’’. 


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1 (c) FEDERAL-STATE PARTNERSHIP AND COORDINA2 TION.—Section 1409A of the National Agricultural Re3 search, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 

4 U.S.C. 3124a) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (c)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘and 

6 environmental’’ and inserting ‘‘environmental, ani7 mal welfare, and marketplace demand’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting ‘‘pasture9 based rearing systems,’’ after ‘‘cooperatives,’’; and 

10 (3) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘improving 

11 animal well-being, facilitating enrollment in inde12 pendent animal welfare certification programs,’’ 

13 after ‘‘marketing systems,’’. 

14 (d) ANIMAL WELL-BEING RESEARCH.—The heading 

15 of subtitle E of the National Agricultural Research, Ex16 tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (title XIV of 

17 Public Law 93–113) is amended to read as follows: ‘‘Ani18 mal Health, Well-Being, and Disease Re19 search’’. 

20 (e) AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY TO ACT.—Sec21 tion 1431(b)(2) of the National Agricultural Research, 

22 Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 

23 3193(b)(2)) is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara25 graph (B); 


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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub2 paragraph (C), and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(D) improve the flow of information to 

6 producers regarding enrollment in, compliance 

7 with, and marketing benefits of independent 

8 animal welfare certification programs.’’. 

9 (f) SMALL FARM RESEARCH AND EXTENSION.— 

10 (1) SMALL FARM EXTENSION PROGRAM.—Sec11 tion 502 of the Rural Development Act of 1972 (7 

12 U.S.C. 2662) is amended— 

13 (A) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘, im14 proved animal husbandry techniques including 

15 enrollment in independent animal welfare cer16 tification programs,’’ after ‘‘marketing tech17 niques’’; and 

18 (B) in subsection (h)(1)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

20 subparagraph (E); 

21 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 

22 (F) as subparagraph (H); and 

23 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

24 (E) the following new subparagraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(F) opportunities for enrollment in inde2 pendent animal welfare certification programs; 

3 ‘‘(G) animal husbandry; and’’. 

4 (2) DEFINITION.—Section 506 of the Rural De5 velopment Act of 1972 (7 U.S.C. 2666) is amend6 ed— 

7 (A) by redesignating subsections (a), (b), 

8 and (c) as subsections (b), (c), and (d) respec9 tively; and 

10 (B) by inserting before subsection (b), as 

11 so redesignated, the following: 

12 ‘‘(a) ‘independent animal welfare certification pro13 gram’ has the meaning given that term in section 801(1) 

14 of the Food and Farm Act.’’. 

15 TITLE IX—REGIONAL FOOD 

16 SYSTEMS 

17 Subtitle A—Expanding Support for 

18 Local and Regional Food Systems 

19 SEC. 901. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of the Congress that: 

21 (1) Local and regional food systems provide 

22 jobs and economic opportunity for farmers and 

23 ranchers, businesses, entrepreneurs, and employees 

24 across the United States who cultivate, harvest, 


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1 store, process, market, and distribute food, particu2 larly in rural areas. 

3 (2) Local and regional food systems provide 

4 meaningful access to healthy, fresh, and affordable 

5 foods that are grown and processed closer to mar6 kets, especially in food deserts and other under7 served areas. 

8 (3) Local and regional food systems lower the 

9 carbon footprint of America’s food system by grow10 ing, processing, distributing, and consuming prod11 ucts locally and reducing the use of fossil fuels. 

12 (4) Local and regional food systems foster 

13 American resiliency and independence by helping 

14 communities become less dependent on external food 

15 sources. 

16 (5) Local and regional food systems increase 

17 accountability for farmers, ranchers, and others em18 ployed in the field to engage in sustainable and eth19 ical practices. 

20 (6) By supporting the growth and advancement 

21 of local and regional food systems, the people of the 

22 United States are investing in an environmentally 

23 and economically resilient food and agriculture sys24 tem that provides opportunity and livelihoods for 


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1 farmers, ranchers, businesses, and employees 

2 throughout the economy. 

3 SEC. 902. EXPANDING THE FOOD LEVERAGING INVEST4 MENT FOR NETWORK COORDINATION (LINC) 

5 PROGRAM. 

6 (a) INCREASE IN NUMBER OF VALUE CHAIN COOR7 DINATORS.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall expand 

8 Rural Development Agency participation in the Food 

9 Leveraging Investment for Network Coordination (LINC) 

10 program, a public-private partnership to enhance regional 

11 food-value chains, to deploy during each of fiscal years 

12 2024 through 2028 at least 25 full-time value chain coor13 dinators to provide local food sector coordination services. 

14 (b) LOCATION OF VALUE CHAIN COORDINATORS.— 

15 The Secretary of Agriculture shall ensure that at least 5 

16 value chain coordinators deployed under subsection (a) are 

17 located in each of the following: 

18 (1) The Pacific Northwest region of the United 

19 States. 

20 (2) The Northeast region of the United States. 

21 (3) The Western region of the United States. 

22 (4) The Midwest region of the United States. 

23 (5) The Southern region of the United States. 

24 (c) COORDINATION SERVICES DESCRIBED.—The du25 ties of a value chain coordinator include the following: 


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1 (1) Identifying and connecting interested per2 sons through short-term engagement, helping to 

3 build relationships across the food value chain by en4 gaging interested persons, maintaining communica5 tion channels, and fostering a trusting environment 

6 among interested persons. 

7 (2) Identifying and pursuing resources, such as 

8 grants, loans, and services to support value-chain 

9 collaborators as they develop their enterprises. 

10 (3) Raising policy issues and partnering with 

11 interested persons to address policies and procure12 ment requirements. 

13 (4) Working with food chain members to build 

14 capacity through education and training programs in 

15 such areas as organics and other sustainable produc16 tion practices, food safety, marketing, and branding. 

17 (5) Utilizing grants and other external re18 sources to test new business models to help lower 

19 the financial risk of businesses engaged in the value 

20 chain. 

21 (d) FUNDING.—Of the funds of the Commodity Cred22 it Corporation, the Secretary of the Agriculture shall use 

23 to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal 

24 years 2024 through 2028. 


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1 SEC. 903. ENSURING SUCCESS OF REGIONAL FOOD 

2 PROJECTS UNDER THE BUSINESS AND IN3 DUSTRY GUARANTEED LOAN PROGRAM. 

4 (a) USE OF FUNDS.—Section 310B(g)(9)(B) of the 

5 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

6 1932(g)(9)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(v) OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL AS9 SISTANCE.—Not more than 5 percent of 

10 the amounts reserved under clause (iv) for 

11 each fiscal year shall be used for outreach, 

12 and to provide marketing and technical as13 sistance through Federal entities, and 

14 through State and private universities and 

15 nonprofit entities (including by contract), 

16 to potential recipients of a loan or loan 

17 guarantee under this subparagraph, to en18 sure the full utilization of any such loan or 

19 loan guarantee.’’. 

20 (b) INCREASE IN FUNDING.—Section 

21 310B(g)(9)(B)(iv)(I) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 

22 1932(g)(9)(B)(iv)(I)) is amended by striking ‘‘5’’ and in23 serting ‘‘10’’. 


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1 SEC. 904. INCREASING SUPPORT FOR THE SPECIALTY CROP 

2 BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM. 

3 Section 101 of the Specialty Crops Competitiveness 

4 Act of 2004 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘2018’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘2028’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (l)— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

9 ‘‘and’’; 

10 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘and 

11 each fiscal year thereafter.’’ and inserting a 

12 semicolon; and 

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

14 ‘‘(F) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(G) $110,000,000 for fiscal year 2025 

17 and each fiscal year thereafter.’’. 

18 Subtitle B—Enhancing Regional 

19 Food Infrastructure 

20 SEC. 911. SUPPORTING REGIONAL FOOD INFRASTRUCTURE 

21 ASSESSMENT AND COLLABORATIVE PLAN22 NING. 

23 (a) SUPPORT FOR REGION-WIDE ASSESSMENT AND

24 COLLABORATIVE PLANNING PROJECTS.—Section 6(b) of 

25 the Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Marketing Act of 1976 

26 (7 U.S.C. 3005(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

2 (1); 

3 (2) by striking the period at the end of para4 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(3) full value chain assessments at the local 

8 and regional levels, as well as projects by entities de9 scribed in subsection (c) that maximize efficient use 

10 of existing food related infrastructure, identify gaps 

11 in that infrastructure, and address such gaps.’’. 

12 (b) MANDATORY FUNDING.—Paragraph (1) of sec13 tion 6(g) of the Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Marketing 

14 Act of 1976 (7 U.S.C. 3005(g)) is amended to read as 

15 follows: 

16 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY FUNDING.—Of the funds of 

17 the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary 

18 shall use to carry out this section $80,000,000 for 

19 each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.’’. 

20 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—Paragraph (4) of 

21 section 6(g) of the Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Marketing 

22 Act of 1976 (7 U.S.C. 3005(g)) is amended to read as 

23 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(4) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—Of the funds 

2 made available to carry out this section for a fiscal 

3 year after fiscal year 2024— 

4 ‘‘(A) at least 40 percent of the funds shall 

5 be used for the purposes described in paragraph 

6 (1) of subsection (b); 

7 ‘‘(B) at least 40 percent of the funds shall 

8 be used for the purposes described in paragraph 

9 (2) of such subsection; and 

10 ‘‘(C) not more than 20 percent of the 

11 funds may be used for the purposes described 

12 in paragraph (3) of such subsection.’’. 

13 SEC. 912. LIVESTOCK, DAIRY, AND POULTRY SUPPLY CHAIN 

14 INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTS AND LOANS. 

15 Subtitle D of title III of the Consolidated Farm and 

16 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1981 et seq.) is amend17 ed by adding at the end the following new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 379I. LIVESTOCK, DAIRY, AND POULTRY SUPPLY 

19 CHAIN INFRASTRUCTURE. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to 

21 provide grants or make or insure loans under any of the 

22 programs authorized by this Act, the Agricultural Mar23 keting Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.), or the Rural 

24 Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.), as the 

25 Secretary determines to be appropriate, to assist farmers 


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1 and rural businesses and cooperatives to maintain or in2 crease the production, aggregation, processing, distribu3 tion, and marketing of value-added, niche, or regionally 

4 marketed meat, dairy, and poultry products. 

5 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY.—In implementing subsection (a), the 

6 Secretary shall give priority to grants or loans that will 

7 help increase or enhance the availability and geographic 

8 distribution of State- and Department of Agriculture-in9 spected small processing facilities. 

10 ‘‘(c) SMALL PROCESSING FACILITY DEFINED.—In 

11 this section, the term ‘small processing facility’ means— 

12 ‘‘(1) with respect to an establishment that is 

13 subject to the requirements of the Federal Meat In14 spection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), a certain small 

15 establishment that is eligible to be selected under 

16 section 501(b) of such Act; or 

17 ‘‘(2) a selected establishment (as defined in sec18 tion 31(a) of the Poultry Products Inspection Act 

19 (21 U.S.C. 472(a))).’’. 


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1 Subtitle C—Expanding Accessi2 bility of Federal Grant Pro3 grams 

4 SEC. 921. PUBLISHING INFORMATION ABOUT FUNDED 

5 FARMERS’ MARKET AND LOCAL FOOD PRO6 MOTION PROGRAM PROJECTS. 

7 Section 6 of the Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Mar8 keting Act of 1976 (7 U.S.C. 3005) is amended by adding 

9 at the end the following new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(h) PROJECT DATABASE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, not later 

12 than one year after the date of the enactment of this 

13 subsection, shall publish, and update on an annual 

14 basis, on the Internet website of the Department of 

15 Agriculture a database, in a machine-readable for16 mat, that contains information with respect to any 

17 project with respect to which a grant was awarded 

18 under this section in the previous fiscal year. 

19 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION INCLUDED.—The database 

20 under paragraph (1) shall include, with respect to 

21 each project for which a grant was awarded under 

22 this section in the previous fiscal year— 

23 ‘‘(A) a general overview of such project, in24 cluding a summary of, the timeline, goals, and 


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1 objectives for, and key partners and other 

2 stakeholders involved in, such project; 

3 ‘‘(B) the steps taken to carry out such 

4 project; 

5 ‘‘(C) any materials used to carry out such 

6 project; 

7 ‘‘(D) the delivery area of the project; 

8 ‘‘(E) the total project cost and any non9 Federal funding sources for such project costs; 

10 ‘‘(F) a general description of project bene11 ficiaries; and 

12 ‘‘(G) the results of such project.’’. 

13 SEC. 922. STREAMLINING OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL FOOD 

14 PROGRAM APPLICATION PROCEDURES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

16 shall, not later than one year after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, identify procedures that coordinate and 

18 streamline the application process for local and regional 

19 food programs without compromising program or applica20 tion quality. The Secretary shall identify such procedures 

21 with respect to each of the following: 

22 (1) Streamlining application forms. 

23 (2) Removing repetition from forms and the on24 line toolkit used to complete such applications. 


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137 

•HR 1824 IH

1 (3) To the extent possible, accepting applica2 tions electronically (including through email). 

3 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

6 2024 through 2028. 

7 Subtitle D—Leveling the Playing 

8 Field for Small Farmers 

9 SEC. 931. ENSURING FAIR PRACTICES IN AGRICULTURE. 

10 Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall imple12 ment, without amendment, the final rule entitled ‘‘Unfair 

13 Practices and Undue Preferences in Violation of the Pack14 ers and Stockyards Act’’ and published in the Federal 

15 Register by the Department of Agriculture on December 

16 20, 2016 (81 Fed. Reg. 92703). 

Æ 


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