Sponsors (4)
The bill directs modest, multi-year federal funding to expand community-college agricultural training and regional coordination—boosting job-ready graduates and local employer pipelines—while creating costs for taxpayers and risks of uneven access, facility shortfalls, and industry-driven program priorities.
Students at community and technical colleges gain expanded agricultural workforce training, apprenticeships, and hands-on experiential learning, improving job readiness and placement in local agriculture jobs.
Community and junior colleges and their faculty receive sustained federal support ($20M/year through 2031) to buy equipment, run programs, and develop instructors, increasing program stability and instructional capacity.
State education agencies and colleges benefit from regional centers of excellence that coordinate best practices and industry partnerships, raising program quality and aligning training with local employer needs.
Rural and smaller colleges and their students may lose out because competitive grants and consortia are likely to favor better‑resourced institutions, widening disparities in program access.
All taxpayers bear an ongoing federal cost of about $20 million per year through 2031, which could displace other budget priorities.
Schools and students remain constrained by aging facilities because the program excludes building construction and renovation, limiting the ability to scale or modernize hands-on training spaces.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a USDA competitive grant program for public 2-year colleges to build agricultural education, workforce training, and centers of excellence, authorized $20M/year for FY2026–2031.
Introduced September 18, 2025 by Trent Kelly · Last progress September 18, 2025
Creates a competitive USDA grant program for public two-year (community and junior) colleges and consortia to strengthen agricultural education, workforce training, research, and outreach. Grants can fund things like curriculum development, equipment, faculty development, apprenticeships, grant-writing capacity, and matching incentives; building construction/renovation is excluded. The law authorizes $20 million per year for fiscal years 2026–2031 and requires the Secretary to evaluate the program and report results to Congress within three years.