Title: Homegrown Organic Act of 2017
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Homegrown Organic Act of 2017
This bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify several Department of Agriculture conservation programs to authorize additional assistance for farmers who are transitioning to organic farming. The bill modifies the Conservation Reserve Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program, and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3637 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 Representatives 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''.

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 
        determines that such a cap would be necessary to mitigate any 
        significant erosion of organic commodity premiums.
            ``(4) Definition.--In this section, a `farmer or rancher 
        transitioning to organic farming or ranching' means a farmer or 
        rancher who agrees to gain organic certification under the 
        Organic Foods Production 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.''.
    (b) Conservation Stewardship Program.--Section 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 stewardship 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 contract 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 contract 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 transitioning into 
                organic production, including organic cropping, 
                livestock, and grazing systems; and
                    ``(B) based on existing groupings or bundles of 
                conservation activities designed for organic 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 Secretary determines that such a cap would be 
        necessary to mitigate any significant erosion of organic 
        commodity premiums.
            ``(5) Termination of contracts.--The Secretary may 
        terminate a conservation stewardship contract that includes 
        payments for organic transition 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 Payments Within the 
Environmental Quality Incentives Program.--Section 1240B(i) of the Food 
Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-2(i)) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (3); and
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs 
        (3) and (4), respectively.
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