I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3637 
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to better assist producers who 
are voluntarily making the transition to organic production systems, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 1, 2017 
Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to better assist 
producers who are voluntarily making the transition to 
organic production systems, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Homegrown Organic 
Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. PROGRAMS FOR PRODUCERS TRANSITIONING TO 
ORGANIC PRODUCTION SYSTEMS. 
(a) CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM.—Section 
1235(f) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 
3835(f)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or a socially’’ 
and inserting ‘‘a farmer or rancher transitioning to 
organic farming or ranching, or a socially’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) CAP
ON
ENROLLMENT.—The Secretary 
may establish a cap on the number of acres subject 
to contract modifications described in paragraph (1) 
with regard to farmers or ranchers transitioning to 
organic farming or ranching if the Secretary deter-
mines that such a cap would be necessary to miti-
gate any significant erosion of organic commodity 
premiums. 
‘‘(4) DEFINITION.—In this section, a ‘farmer or 
rancher transitioning to organic farming or ranch-
ing’ means a farmer or rancher who agrees to gain 
organic certification under the Organic Foods Pro-
duction Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) while 
the land to be transferred pursuant to a contract 
modification described in paragraph (1) is subject to 
a contract under the conservation reserve program.’’. 
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(b) CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM.—Sec-
tion 1238G of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 
3838g) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(j) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
ORGANIC
TRANSITION 
BUNDLES.— 
‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY
OF
ORGANIC
TRANSITION 
BUNDLES.—In entering into conservation steward-
ship contracts under section 1238F, the Secretary 
shall make organic transition bundles available to 
producers transitioning to organic production. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a con-
tract that includes an organic transition bundle, a 
producer shall agree to gain organic certification 
under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 
U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) while participating in a con-
tract under the conservation stewardship program. 
‘‘(3) ORGANIC TRANSITION BUNDLE.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘organic transition bundle’ 
means a grouping of conservation activities that the 
Secretary determines are— 
‘‘(A) appropriate for producers transition-
ing into organic production, including organic 
cropping, livestock, and grazing systems; and 
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‘‘(B) based on existing groupings or bun-
dles of conservation activities designed for or-
ganic producers. 
‘‘(4) ENROLLMENT.—The Secretary may cap 
enrollment of land to be covered by conservation 
stewardship contracts that include organic transition 
bundles per year, on a commodity basis, if the Sec-
retary determines that such a cap would be nec-
essary to mitigate any significant erosion of organic 
commodity premiums. 
‘‘(5) TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS.—The Sec-
retary may terminate a conservation stewardship 
contract that includes payments for organic transi-
tion bundles, or modify such a contract to terminate 
such payments, if the Secretary determines that the 
producer— 
‘‘(A) is not pursuing organic certification; 
or 
‘‘(B) is not in compliance with the Organic 
Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6501 
et seq).’’. 
(c) REMOVAL OF PAYMENT CAP FOR CERTAIN PAY-
MENTS WITHIN THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCEN-
TIVES PROGRAM.—Section 1240B(i) of the Food Security 
Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(i)) is amended— 
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(1) by striking paragraph (3); and 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 
paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively. 
Æ 
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