[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3877 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3877
To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to
establish an Office of Small Farms, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 6, 2023
Ms. Strickland (for herself, Ms. Adams, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Thompson of
Mississippi, Ms. Tokuda, Ms. Crockett, and Ms. DelBene) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to
establish an Office of Small Farms, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Office of Small Farms Establishment
Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF SMALL FARMS.
(a) In General.--Subtitle B of the Department of Agriculture
Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6931 et seq.) is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``SEC. 229. OFFICE OF SMALL FARMS.
``(a) Definition of Small Farm, Ranch, or Forest Operation.--In
this section, the term `small farm, ranch, or forest operation' means a
farm, ranch, or forest operation that--
``(1)(A) is less than 180 acres; or
``(B) meets another acreage-based definition of `small', as
determined by the Secretary, that takes into consideration--
``(i) the State or region in which the farm, ranch,
or forest operation is located;
``(ii) the production system of the farm, ranch, or
forest operation; or
``(iii) both; and
``(2) has annual gross cash farm income of less than
$350,000.
``(b) Establishment.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish within the
farm production and conservation mission area the Office of
Small Farms.
``(2) Director.--The Secretary shall appoint a Director of
the Office of Small Farms (referred to in this section as the
`Director'). A senior official within the farm production and
conservation mission area may be appointed to serve as the
Director.
``(c) Duties.--The Director shall--
``(1) coordinate efforts to improve support for small
farms, ranches, and forest operations across all Department
agencies and offices;
``(2) review Department programs and policies and identify
statutory, regulatory, and administrative provisions, policies,
and guidance that disadvantage small farm, ranch, or forest
operation participation, and recommend changes to ensure that
those programs and policies adequately serve small farms,
ranches, and forest operations;
``(3) develop recommendations for new initiatives,
including financing mechanisms and technical assistance
opportunities, to specifically serve small farms, ranches, and
forest operations relating to production, conservation,
business planning, land access, and other issues, as determined
by the Secretary;
``(4) make recommendations to Department agencies and
offices and other Federal agencies on tracking small farm,
ranch, or forest operation data, including demographics and
program participation rates;
``(5) propose research agendas on topics that are of
special interest to small farms, ranches, and forest
operations;
``(6) provide or coordinate technical assistance through
the Department or through cooperative agreements with other
entities to operators of small farms, ranches, and forest
operations to enable those operators to access the full
complement of Department grant, cost-share, and loan programs;
``(7) implement program directly or through cooperative
agreements with other entities to provide grants of not more
than $25,000 to operators of small farms, ranches, and forest
operations for--
``(A) equipment and infrastructure repairs and
upgrades;
``(B) uninsured losses;
``(C) business planning and market development
assistance;
``(D) conservation practice adoption;
``(E) down payments for land acquisition; and
``(F) such other purposes as the Secretary
determines to be appropriate;
``(8) operate a hotline through which operators of small
farms, ranches, and forest operations can anonymously report
problems that the operators encounter in attempts to access
Department programs; and
``(9) advise other Federal agencies on how to effectively
reach and serve small farms, ranches, and forest operations.
``(d) Liaisons.--The following officials shall appoint, from among
the officers and employees under the respective official, a liaison to
the Office of Small Farms:
``(1) The Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation
Service.
``(2) The Administrator of the Farm Service Agency.
``(3) The Administrator of the Risk Management Agency.
``(4) The Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural
Development.
``(5) The Director of the National Institute of Food and
Agriculture.
``(6) The Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing
Service.
``(7) The Administrator of the National Agricultural
Statistics Service.
``(8) The Director of the Office of Partnerships and Public
Engagement.
``(9) The heads of such other agencies, advisory groups,
and offices as the Secretary determines to be appropriate,
including--
``(A) the Office of Urban Agriculture and
Innovative Production; and
``(B) the Office of Tribal Relations.
``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated--
``(1) $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through
2028 for the administration of the Office of Small Farms; and
``(2) $10,000,000 for each fiscal year to provide technical
assistance and grants authorized by this section.''.
(b) Technical Amendment.--The Department of Agriculture
Reorganization Act of 1994 is amended by redesignating the first
section 225 (7 U.S.C. 6925) (relating to the Food Access Liaison) as
section 224A.
(c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 296(b) of the Department of
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(11) The authority of the Secretary to carry out section
229.''.
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