Support Water-Efficient Strategies and Technologies Act of 2025

This bill aims to help farmers and ranchers save water and handle drought. It lets the USDA cover up to 85% of the cost for certain practices—like planning, equipment, installation, training, and maintenance—that cut water use, reduce runoff, help rain soak into the soil, or shift fields from irrigated to dryland farming.

It also boosts payments for stewardship practices that conserve resources, including during transitions that may lower yields or income. This includes crop rotations, advanced grazing, and “perennial production systems” such as agroforestry (alley cropping, silvopasture), forest farming, and perennial forages or grains . The bill sets a payment cap of $200,000 per person or business over any five-year period (with an exception for Indian tribes) and directs the USDA to support soil health by doing outreach and offering payments for soil health testing and tracking carbon stored in soil.

• Who is affected: Farmers, ranchers, and land managers in USDA conservation programs.
• What changes: Higher cost-share for water-saving and drought-ready practices (up to 85%); more support during transitions to rotations, advanced grazing, and perennial systems; soil health testing payments; a $200,000/5-year payment cap per person or entity (tribal arrangements excluded) .
• Why it matters: Helps reduce water use, improve soil, and manage drought risk while easing the financial hit from changing farm practices .