Sponsors (2)
The bill expands funding and institutional support for land-based climate and biodiversity practices—benefiting farmers, researchers, and local ecosystems—but increases federal spending and may favor better-resourced participants while redirecting some USDA research priorities.
Farmers and landowners will gain access to competitive federal grants to adopt practices that store carbon and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions on croplands, grasslands, wetlands, and forests.
Researchers and Cooperative Extension services will receive funding priorities to study and promote biodiversity-enhancing and resilience-building land management practices.
Downstream and nearby communities will likely see improved water quality because grants can support practices that reduce agricultural runoff.
Taxpayers could face increased federal spending because the bill authorizes competitive grant funding without specifying appropriation limits.
Small and under-resourced farmers and rural communities may struggle with required matching funds or administrative compliance for grant participation, limiting equitable access.
USDA resources and research attention could be shifted toward natural climate solutions, potentially crowding out other agricultural research priorities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds "natural climate solutions" to USDA competitive research and extension grant priorities to support land-management practices that store carbon or reduce emissions.
Official title: To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to provide for high-priority research and extension grants for natural climate solutions, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 9, 2026 by Andrew R. Garbarino · Last progress June 9, 2026
Creates a new grant priority at USDA to fund competitive research and extension projects for "natural climate solutions" on farms, forests, grasslands, wetlands, and soils. The grants will support land-management practices that store carbon or reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including practices based on traditional ecological knowledge, biodiversity promotion, climate resilience, and runoff reduction. The change simply adds this topic to the existing list of high-priority research and extension areas under the Secretary of Agriculture’s authority and keeps the program’s existing rules on administration, matching, waivers, task forces, and consultation.