Sponsors (2)
The bill aims to reduce barriers and improve USDA support for organic and transitioning producers through reporting, data transparency, and staff training assessments, at the cost of added reporting burdens, potential compliance costs for small farms, and some short-term demands on USDA resources.
Organic and transitioning farmers will get clear, actionable recommendations and improved access to federal conservation, credit, insurance, and market programs because USDA must produce a report identifying program barriers and recommended actions.
Organic producers, rural communities, and state and federal overseers will have greater transparency about program access because USDA must collect and publish participation data (applications, approvals, funding, geographic and farm-size breakdowns) and provide annual public updates for three years.
Farmers will likely receive better on-the-ground technical assistance because USDA will assess organic-specific training needs for field staff across FSA, NRCS, RMA, Rural Development, and FAS and can target training gaps.
Small organic and transitioning farms may face new compliance costs and administrative burdens because additional data collection on applications and denial reasons could require new reporting or systems.
Taxpayers could incur additional costs if the report's recommendations prompt statutory changes that require new spending or regulatory implementation.
USDA staff and resources may be temporarily strained because preparing the initial report within 180 days and producing annual updates could divert personnel from other program delivery tasks.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires USDA to study and report on barriers organic and transitioning farms face in accessing USDA programs, with an initial report due in 180 days and annual updates for three years.
Official title: Direct the Secretary of Agriculture to submit to Congress a report on barriers to participation in Department of Agriculture programs faced by certified organic farms and farms that may be interested in transitioning to organic production, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 13, 2026 by Adam Schiff · Last progress July 13, 2026
Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to study and report on barriers that certified organic farms and farms transitioning to organic production face when trying to use USDA programs. The initial report must be delivered to congressional agriculture committees and published online within 180 days of enactment, and the Secretary must provide public updates annually for three years describing progress and any recommended statutory changes. The study must examine program-specific obstacles (conservation, credit, disaster assistance, crop insurance, export promotion, market development, technical assistance, rural development, data collection, procurement, and organic certification cost-share), include participation data where possible, evaluate administrative and eligibility barriers across several USDA agencies, describe intended administrative fixes, and offer legislative recommendations if needed.