Sponsors (3)
The bill provides modest federal funding to create standardized, regularly updated soil-health training and producer materials that can improve on-farm technical assistance and soil resilience, while imposing a $10M taxpayer cost and creating administrative burdens and potential bias against producers using non-targeted systems.
Farmers and rural communities will get standardized, regularly updated soil-health training delivered to NRCS staff and third-party providers, improving the technical assistance they receive.
Farmers and rural communities will receive producer-facing soil health materials and support to adopt regenerative practices, helping improve soil productivity and resilience on working lands.
State and local governments and program administrators will have dedicated federal funding ($10 million authorized for FY2027–2032) to develop and deliver the program regionally and online.
Taxpayers will fund the program's authorized $10 million cost over FY2027–2032.
Third-party providers and small providers may face added administrative and continuing-education burdens to meet training completion schedules and requirements.
Producers using different farming systems could be disadvantaged if program-trained advisors prioritize the targeted practices (e.g., organic/regenerative), potentially limiting access to neutral advice or alternative practices.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires NRCS to establish a national soil health training program with online curriculum, regional workshops, partner agreements, producer materials, and $10M authorized for FY2027–FY2032.
Introduced February 10, 2026 by Jeff Merkley · Last progress February 10, 2026
Requires the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to create a national soil health management training program for NRCS staff and approved third-party providers within one year. The program must include an online curriculum, regular in-person regional workshops, partner cooperative agreements, producer-facing materials, continuing education, a detailed multi-unit curriculum, biennial updates, and an authorization of $10,000,000 for FY2027–FY2032 to support implementation.