Sponsors (12)
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Sets national greenhouse gas reduction goals for the agricultural sector and directs USDA to create, publish, and update a detailed action plan with annual reporting to Congress. Creates and funds a suite of programs — including public breed and cultivar research ($50M+/yr), state and Tribal soil‑health grants, farmland protection and farm viability supports, pasture and manure management incentives, expanded Conservation Reserve options, on‑farm renewable energy support (including agrivoltaics and carbon accounting), and food‑loss/waste grants and school programs — with new definitions, grant rules, cost‑share limits, and program reporting requirements.
Defines the term "Secretary" to mean the Secretary of Agriculture.
Purpose: to prevent climate change from exceeding 1.5°C above preindustrial levels through a national greenhouse gas emission reduction effort for the agricultural sector.
National goal: achieve not less than a 50-percent reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions for the agricultural sector, compared to calendar year 2010 levels, by December 31, 2030.
National goal: achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions for the agricultural sector by December 31, 2040.
Research subgoal: federal public food and agriculture research and extension funding should at minimum triple (compared to fiscal year 2023 levels) by December 31, 2030, and quadruple by December 31, 2040, with a strong focus on climate adaptation and mitigation and related topics.
Who is affected and how:
Farmers and ranchers: Directly affected through new grant opportunities, technical assistance, conservation contract options (including long‑term grassland contracts), updated eligibility, and cost‑share rules; producers adopting soil health, pasture‑based, manure management, or renewable energy practices can access funds but may face new planning and reporting requirements.
Owners/operators of commercial farms and small meat/poultry processors: Eligible for targeted support and grants to improve processing capacity, adopt lower‑emission practices, and help keep farms economically viable; small processors receive specific program attention which may reduce local bottlenecks.
State and Tribal governments: Eligible applicants for the soil‑health grant program and implementers of state/tribal soil health plans; they will need administrative capacity to apply, plan, and report to receive funds; some program elements require plan development and evaluation steps.
Rural communities and local markets: Beneficiaries of farmland protection, farm viability, and local market supports; large composting/digestion infrastructure and school food‑waste grants can provide local jobs and waste diversion solutions.
USDA and federal program administrators: Increased program design, rulemaking, grant oversight, carbon accounting development, and annual reporting obligations; additional administrative workload and evaluation duties.
Researchers and academic institutions: New research funding streams for public breeds, cultivars, agrivoltaics, and food waste research create opportunities for applied science partnerships and regional collaboration, often with cost‑share expectations.
Schools and school districts: Potential recipients of competitive grants to measure and reduce food waste and to receive technical assistance; implementation may require staff time and matching resources.
Net effects and tradeoffs:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Introduced April 29, 2025 by Martin Heinrich · Last progress April 29, 2025
Multiple amendments to the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP): adds greenhouse gas emissions reduction to program purposes; expands eligible entities; adds carbon accounting requirements and regional demonstration projects; creates preapproved technologies list and priorities based on carbon accounting; modifies grant/loan guarantee percentages and underserved-producer grant caps; revises authorized funding levels and adds administrative/reservation limits; redesignates and inserts subsections.
Amends provisions of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508) to (1) modify the voluntary good farming practices language to add conservation practices/enhancements, (2) add a new risk‑reduction based premium discount authority and list of risk‑reduction farming practices (effective beginning with the 2026 reinsurance year), and (3) strike paragraph (3) of section 508(o) (crop production on native sod applicability) with a relative effective date tied to the first reinsurance year beginning after 1 year from enactment.
Amends section 1619 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act (7 U.S.C. 5801) to add resilience to the purposes, modify definitions and reorganize paragraph numbering and headings to incorporate resilience and related definitions and priorities.
Amends section 1621(b) (7 U.S.C. 5811(b)) by editing eligibility language for entering into research and extension project agreements (removing specific wording 'or Federal or State' as shown in the amendment text).
Replaces or substantially revises section 1627 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act (7 U.S.C. 5821) to establish an 'Agricultural and food system resilience initiative' with specified establishment, purposes, and eligible activities focused on resilience, outreach, and demonstration projects.
Amends section 1628 (7 U.S.C. 5831) to modify development and content requirements for technical guides and handbooks, remove the 'not later than two years' timing language in one place, add climate adaptation and mitigation topics, and update agency names and coordination language.
Amends section 1629 (7 U.S.C. 5832) concerning the National Training Program to revise coordinator responsibilities, insert climate adaptation/mitigation content, update agency references, redesignate paragraphs, and add requirements to develop and provide climate-related information.
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Introduced in Senate