Sponsors (2)
The bill helps small and beginning farmers pay for required food‑safety audits and can expand market access and on‑farm safety, but it does so by drawing on federal CCC funds and with a temporary structure that may leave some producers excluded or create planning uncertainty.
Small and beginning farmers would have GAP audit costs fully paid, lowering a key barrier to selling to retailers and increasing these producers' access to retail markets and potential sales/income.
More producers obtaining audits aligned with AMS and HHS guidance could improve on‑farm food safety practices, reducing food-safety risks for consumers and improving farm operations.
Using Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds to pay audits increases federal spending and could reduce funds available for other USDA programs or require budget offsets, potentially impacting taxpayers and other services.
If eligibility criteria are too narrow or administrative burdens are high, some small or beginning producers may still be excluded and unable to benefit from the program.
The program's temporary 5‑year authorization creates uncertainty for producers who need recurring audit renewals to maintain market access, complicating long‑term business planning.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
USDA must pay the full cost of GAP audits for eligible small and beginning farmers using CCC funds, with program authority for five years.
Introduced December 2, 2025 by Eugene Simon Vindman · Last progress December 2, 2025
Pays the full cost of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) audits for eligible small and beginning farmers, using Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds, and establishes a five-year program authority. It requires USDA to report to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees within one year and annually for four additional years on program activity and how payments affected market access to retail food stores that require GAP audits. Covered producers are small farms with average adjusted gross income under $350,000 per year or beginning farmers/ranchers as defined in existing USDA rules; the Secretary of Agriculture may set additional eligibility criteria. The program references AMS audit and accreditation rules for GAP audits and expires five years after enactment.