I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2720 
To direct the agricultural research service to expand organic research, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 19, 2023 
Mr. NEWHOUSE (for himself, Ms. PINGREE, and Mr. PANETTA) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To direct the agricultural research service to expand organic 
research, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Organic 
Agricultural Research (SOAR) Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. ORGANIC RESEARCH AND EXTENSION INITIATIVE. 
Section 1672B(f) of the Food, Agriculture, Conserva-
tion, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5925b(f)) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:48 May 02, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2720.IH
H2720
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
and extension activities regarding the transition of non-
organic production systems into organic production for the 
purposes of— 
‘‘(1) overcoming social, economic, and manage-
ment barriers to organic transition; 
‘‘(2) documenting and understanding the effects 
of organic practices on ecosystem services, including 
soil health and fertility, greenhouse gas mitigation 
and sequestration, water management, biodiversity- 
related services, and pest management; and 
‘‘(3) developing improved technologies, methods, 
models, and metrics to document, describe, and opti-
mize ecosystem services of transitioning agricultural 
production into organic management. 
‘‘(b) GRANT TYPES AND PROCESS.—Paragraphs (4), 
(7), (8), and (11)(B) of subsection (b) of the Competitive, 
Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 
3157) shall apply with respect to the making of grants 
under this section. 
‘‘(c) PARTNERSHIPS ENCOURAGED.—Following the 
completion of a peer review process for applications for 
a grant received under this section, the Secretary may pro-
vide a priority to any such proposal for such a grant 
that— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:48 May 02, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2720.IH
H2720
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(1) is found in the peer review process to be 
scientifically meritorious; 
‘‘(2) includes as active partners organic pro-
ducers that are conducting on-farm research and 
demostrations (and the organizations that represent 
such producers); and 
‘‘(3) actively involves— 
‘‘(A) 1890 Institutions (as defined in sec-
tion 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, 
and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 
7601)); 
‘‘(B) 1994 Institutions (as defined in such 
section 2); and 
‘‘(C) Hispanic-serving institutions (as de-
fined in section 1404 of the National Agricul-
tural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy 
Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103)). 
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section— 
‘‘(1) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 
through 2026; and 
‘‘(2) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 
through 2028.’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:48 May 02, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2720.IH
H2720
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
SEC. 4. ORGANIC PRODUCTION AND MARKET DATA INITIA-
TIVES. 
Section 7407 of the Farm Security and Rural Invest-
ment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 5925c) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (d)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 
and’’; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(C) $10,000,000 for the period of fiscal 
years 2024 to 2028.’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘2023’’ 
and inserting ‘‘2028’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) ECONOMIC IMPACT ANALYSIS
OF ORGANIC 
FARMING AND CERTIFICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agri-
culture, acting through the Administrator of the 
Economic Research Service (referred to in this sub-
section as the ‘Secretary’), shall— 
‘‘(A) not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this subsection, prepare, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:48 May 02, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2720.IH
H2720
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
and submit, a plan to conduct an economic im-
pact analysis of organic agriculture, as defined 
in section 2103 of the Organic Foods Produc-
tion Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6502) to the Com-
mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 
of the Senate and the Committee on Agri-
culture of the House of Representatives; and 
‘‘(B) not later than 3 years after the date 
on which the plan is submitted under paragraph 
(1), submit such economic impact analysis to 
the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on 
Agriculture of the House of Representatives. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The analysis under para-
graph (1) shall include an analysis of— 
‘‘(A) farming and ranching operations of a 
variety of sizes, with regional differences, and 
that have a diversity of production practices 
and methods; and 
‘‘(B) the direct and indirect economic im-
pacts of organic agriculture on rural and urban 
communities, including— 
‘‘(i) the vitality of the local economy; 
‘‘(ii) the labor market; 
‘‘(iii) environmental quality; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:48 May 02, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2720.IH
H2720
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(iv) social dynamics; 
‘‘(v) land ownership; and 
‘‘(vi) any other information, data, or 
analysis the Secretary considers necessary 
to make the economic impact analysis com-
prehensive, accurate, and useful.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:48 May 02, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H2720.IH
H2720
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB