Sponsors (4)
Authorizes a NIFA competitive grant program to create five Regional Agriculture Cybersecurity Centers, a national network, and a coordinating entity, with $25M/year for FY2026–2030.
The bill directs targeted federal funding to strengthen agricultural cybersecurity, workforce training, and regional resilience—benefiting farmers and land‑grant universities—while creating new federal costs, limiting eligible performers to land‑grant institutions, and leaving longer‑term program sustainability uncertain.
Farmers and agricultural businesses will gain region-specific cybersecurity research, tools, and mitigation support to reduce crop and supply-chain disruptions from cyberattacks.
Land‑grant universities and their students will receive funding and partnerships to develop cybersecurity curricula, hands-on training, and live testbeds that build a specialized agricultural cyber workforce.
Regional economies—especially rural communities—will see strengthened resilience and improved collaboration among industry, government, and academia to protect local food systems and supply chains.
Taxpayers will fund roughly $25 million per year from FY2026–2030 to authorize the program, increasing federal spending without specified offsets.
Only land‑grant universities are eligible to lead the program, which may exclude capable nonprofits, private labs, and smaller institutions—narrowing competition and geographic coverage of research and tools.
Operational centers and testbeds are authorized for five years and may require ongoing funding and coordination beyond that period, creating a risk of discontinuity if future appropriations lapse.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Official title: Amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program providing for the establishment of Agriculture Cybersecurity Centers, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 18, 2025 by Theodore Paul Budd · Last progress September 18, 2025
Creates a competitive grant program at USDA (through NIFA, in consultation with DHS) to fund five Regional Agriculture Cybersecurity Centers, a national network linking them, and a coordinating entity to protect the food and agriculture sector from cyber threats. The Centers will run research, regional security operations centers and testbeds, training and exercises, and partnerships; the program targets attacks from specified foreign adversaries and authorizes $25 million per year for FY2026–2030.