I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6388 
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modernize the conservation 
reserve program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 3, 2025 
Mr. FINSTAD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modernize 
the conservation reserve program, 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 ‘‘Conservation Reserve 
Program Modernization Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
Subchapter B of chapter 1 of title XII of the Food 
Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831 et seq.) is amended 
by inserting before section 1231 the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 1230. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this subchapter: 
‘‘(1) CONSERVATION BUFFER.—The term ‘con-
servation buffer’ means a practice that, once estab-
lished, provides a benefit to water quality or another 
resource concern, including— 
‘‘(A) a grass sod waterway; 
‘‘(B) a contour grass sod strip; 
‘‘(C) a prairie strip; 
‘‘(D) a filterstrip; 
‘‘(E) a field border; 
‘‘(F) a living snow fence; 
‘‘(G) a riparian buffer; 
‘‘(H) a shelterbelt or windbreak; 
‘‘(I) a wetland or a wetland buffer (includ-
ing a buffer for prairie potholes, a playa, or a 
pocosin); 
‘‘(J) a saturated buffer; 
‘‘(K) a bioreactor; 
‘‘(L) a wellhead protection area; and 
‘‘(M) other similar practices, as determined 
by the Secretary. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE LAND.—The term ‘eligible land’ 
means land that is authorized to be included in the 
conservation reserve program under section 1231(b). 
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‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE
PARTNER.—The term ‘eligible 
partner’ means— 
‘‘(A) a State; 
‘‘(B) a political subdivision of a State; 
‘‘(C) an Indian Tribe; or 
‘‘(D) a nongovernmental organization. 
‘‘(4) LAND CAPABILITY CLASS.—The term ‘land 
capability class’ means a soil classification assigned 
using the land capability classification system in ef-
fect on December 23, 1985.’’. 
SEC. 3. ELIGIBLE LAND. 
Section 1231(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 
(16 U.S.C. 3831(b)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE LAND.—The Secretary may include in 
the conservation reserve program the following: 
‘‘(1) Cropland that— 
‘‘(A)(i) on a field level, consists of not less 
than 85 percent soils with a dryland cropland 
land capability class of III through VII; or 
‘‘(ii) cannot be farmed in accordance with 
a plan that complies with the requirements of 
subtitle B; and 
‘‘(B) the Secretary determines had a crop-
ping history or was considered to be planted for 
not fewer than 4 of the 6 years preceding the 
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date of enactment of the Conservation Reserve 
Program Modernization Act. 
‘‘(2) Cropland (including prairie potholes, 
playas, and pocosins within cropland), grasslands, 
and marginal pasture land (including marginal 
pastureland converted to wetland or established as 
wildlife habitat) to be— 
‘‘(A) devoted to conservation buffers; 
‘‘(B) established to ecologically appropriate 
vegetation, including trees, in or near riparian 
areas, intermittent, seasonal, or perennial 
streams, wetlands (including prairie potholes, 
playas, and pocosins), or saline-impaired soils; 
or 
‘‘(C) devoted to similar water quality or 
wildlife habitat practices. 
‘‘(3) Grasslands that— 
‘‘(A) contain forbs or shrubland (including 
improved rangeland and pastureland) for which 
grazing is the predominant use; 
‘‘(B) are located in an area historically 
dominated by grasslands; and 
‘‘(C) could provide habitat for animal and 
plant populations of significant ecological value 
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if the land is retained in its current use or re-
stored to a natural condition. 
‘‘(4) Land described in paragraph (1), (2), or 
(3) that will address significant water quality, water 
conservation, and wildlife habitat concerns, as pro-
posed by an eligible partner and agreed to by the 
Secretary for purposes of section 1231A. 
‘‘(5) The portion of land in a field not enrolled 
in the conservation reserve in a case in which— 
‘‘(A) more than 50 percent of the land in 
the field is enrolled as a buffer or filterstrip, or 
more than 75 percent of the land in the field 
is enrolled as a conservation practice other than 
as a buffer or filterstrip; and 
‘‘(B) the Secretary determines that the re-
mainder of the field is infeasible to farm.’’. 
SEC. 4. PAYMENTS. 
(a) COST SHARING PAYMENTS.—Section 1234(b)(1) 
of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(b)(1)) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—In making cost-sharing 
payments to an owner or operator under a contract 
entered into under this subchapter, the Secretary 
shall pay 50 percent of the cost of, as the Secretary 
determines appropriate and in the public interest— 
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‘‘(A) establishing permanent vegetation, in-
cluding site preparation, cover, fertilizer, seed-
ing, and planting; 
‘‘(B) carrying out erosion control practices 
necessary to stabilize the site for vegetation es-
tablished under subparagraph (A); 
‘‘(C) installing fencing to protect riparian 
areas and buffers; 
‘‘(D) carrying out water development prac-
tices associated with excluding livestock from 
protected riparian areas; 
‘‘(E) installing fencing and carrying out 
water development practices to facilitate transi-
tion to livestock grazing on lands enrolled under 
the grasslands enrollment option; 
‘‘(F) conducting the necessary and appro-
priate mid-contract management activities to 
maintain the permanent cover and associated 
benefits; and 
‘‘(G) carrying out other water quality con-
servation measures and practices.’’. 
(b) ANNUAL RENTAL PAYMENTS.— 
(1) 
MULTIPLE
ENROLLMENTS.—Section 
1234(d)(2)(B) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 
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U.S.C. 3834(d)(2)(B)) is amended to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(B) MULTIPLE ENROLLMENTS.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 
subparagraph (A), if land subject to a con-
tract entered into under this subchapter is 
reenrolled pursuant to section 1231(h), the 
annual rental payment shall be in an 
amount that is not more than the applica-
ble percentage of the relevant county aver-
age soil rental rate for the year in which 
the reenrollment occurs (as determined 
under paragraph (4)(E)). 
‘‘(ii) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For 
purposes of clause (i), the applicable per-
centage shall be— 
‘‘(I) for the first reenrollment 
that occurs after the date of enact-
ment the Conservation Reserve Pro-
gram Modernization Act, 85 percent; 
and 
‘‘(II) for each subsequent re-
enrollment, the percentage that is 10 
percentage points less than the per-
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‘‘(iii) for eligible land consisting of 
soils with a dryland cropland land capa-
bility class of IV through VII that is en-
rolled under the general enrollment option 
or the conservation reserve enhancement 
program, 115 percent of the estimated 
rental rate determined under this para-
graph; and 
‘‘(iv) for eligible land enrolled under 
the continuous enrollment option, 100 per-
cent of the estimated rental rate deter-
mined under this paragraph, without re-
gard to the land capability class of the 
soil.’’. 
Æ 
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