‘‘SEC. 210B. AUTOMATION AND MECHANIZATION GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of enhancing the 
competitiveness of specialty crop producers in the United 
States, the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 
Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service, shall 
establish a program under which the Secretary will award 
grants to eligible entities to acquire certain equipment and 
provide training with respect to the use of such equipment. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving a 
grant under this section shall use funds received through 
the grant— 
‘‘(1) to acquire mechanized or automated sys-
tems and tools that increase the efficiency of a task 
or reduce human labor for a specific activity, as de-
termined by the Secretary; and 
‘‘(2) to provide training, including worker train-
ing, and other professional services required to learn 
how to deploy and effectively operate such systems 
and tools, as determined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(c) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—To the maximum extent 
practicable, the Secretary shall seek to ensure that the 
amount of a grant awarded to a single eligible entity is 
sufficient to provide a significant offset to the costs such 
eligible entity incurs in carrying out the activities specified 
in subsection (b). 
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‘‘(d) MATCHING FUNDS REQUIREMENT.—The recipi-
ent of a grant under this section shall provide non-Federal 
matching funds equal to not less than 50 percent of the 
amount of the grant. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) MECHANIZED
OR
AUTOMATED
SYSTEMS 
AND TOOLS.—The term ‘mechanized or automated 
systems and tools’ includes— 
‘‘(A) low dust harvesting tools and equip-
ment; 
‘‘(B) grinding and chipping tools and 
equipment; 
‘‘(C) sorting machines; 
‘‘(D) phytosanitary, infrared, and pasteur-
ization tools and equipment; 
‘‘(E) traceability tools and equipment; 
‘‘(F) storage and warehousing tools and 
equipment; 
‘‘(G) drones for monitoring commodity 
piles and feedstuff for cattle; 
‘‘(H) hedgers or shredders; 
‘‘(I) wireless, networks, and connectivity 
equipment to support IoT devices; 
‘‘(J) remote, mobile, or drone sensing sen-
sors for field level monitoring of environmental 
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variables for use in farm production or proc-
essing management decision making; 
‘‘(K) enhanced precision irrigation automa-
tion, remote sensing, and metering, pest and 
disease detection, nutrient analysis, and crop 
load assessment equipment and tools; 
‘‘(L) crop monitoring and analytics equip-
ment and tools; 
‘‘(M) potential and predictive near-infrared 
crop damaged assessments; 
‘‘(N) robotic, semi-autonomous, autono-
mous, or mechanized systems or other tools; 
‘‘(O) equipment and tools that automate or 
mechanize seeding, weeding, harvesting, pack-
ing (field and in-house), pruning, spraying, 
transporting, or climate protection (such as 
shade cloth or light manipulation); and 
‘‘(P) such other automated or mechanized 
systems or tools that increase efficiency, as de-
termined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-
tity’ means an individual or entity engaged in the 
commercial production of specialty crops in the 
United States.’’. 
Æ 
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