[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1853 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1853
To require a study of the barriers to conservation practice adoption on
leased agricultural land, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 5, 2025
Ms. Brownley (for herself, Ms. Salinas, and Ms. Stansbury) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require a study of the barriers to conservation practice adoption on
leased agricultural land, 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 ``Conservation for Agricultural Leased
Land Act'' or the ``CALL Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) According to a 2016 study by the Economic Research
Service of the Department of Agriculture, 39 percent of
agricultural land in the United States is leased, including the
majority (53 percent) of cropland.
(2) The participation of landowners and tenants in Federal,
State, and local conservation programs, and the adoption of
conservation practices on land that they own or manage, can be
limited by a wide range of factors that are not fully
understood.
(3) Much of the limited information that is known comes
from the Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land
(TOTAL) Survey conducted by the National Agricultural
Statistics Service, in collaboration with the Economic Research
Service; regularly recurring data collection through the TOTAL
Survey and other Department of Agriculture reports is vital to
understanding land tenure trends, challenges, and
opportunities.
(4) Some of the potential barriers to such participation
and adoption include the structure or term of the lease or
rental agreement, the level of independence given to the
operator, the awareness of the landowner of both conservation
practice and program opportunities and the costs and benefits
associated with those opportunities, and other policy or market
factors.
(5) The solutions to these issues are unlikely to be ``one
size fits all'' and must be better understood.
SEC. 3. STUDY.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out a study of the
participation in conservation programs of, and the adoption of
conservation practices on, leased agricultural land.
(b) Collaboration.--The study under this section shall be carried
out in collaboration with the Economic Research Service.
(c) Contents.--The study carried out under this section shall
include--
(1) a review of relevant existing research literature,
including--
(A) the Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of
Agricultural Land (TOTAL) Survey conducted by the
National Agricultural Statistics Service, in
collaboration with the Economic Research Service; and
(B) the report titled ``Understanding and
Activating Non-Operating Landlords'', published by the
American Farmland Trust in September, 2020;
(2) a review of initiatives conducted by the Cooperative
Extension System to increase the adoption of conservation
practices on leased agricultural land;
(3) identification and quantification of the various types
and structures of current agricultural land leasing
relationships;
(4) research on the history, and estimation of future
trends, of agricultural land ownership;
(5) examination of what leasing models have been effective
in encouraging the adoption of conservation practices;
(6) consideration of regional variations;
(7) examination of existing Federal incentives for adopting
conservation practices, and the degree to which such incentives
are currently utilized with respect to leased agricultural
lands;
(8) research on State and local incentive programs that are
encouraging conservation practice adoption on leased
agricultural land;
(9) research on the benefits of transitioning from land
leasing to land ownership on conservation practice adoption and
Federal conservation program participation;
(10) examination of the effects of competition in cash
rents on the adoption of conservation practices on leased
agricultural lands;
(11) examination of what happens to conservation practices
currently underway on leased agricultural land when new tenants
take over such land; and
(12) research on how the Department of Agriculture
communicates regarding conservation practice adoption to
farmers and ranchers who do not own the land they operate and
to landowners who lease out their agricultural land.
(d) Consideration.--The study under this section shall be carried
out with particular consideration of farmers and ranchers who are
people of color, including Black and indigenous farmers and ranchers,
and beginning farmers and ranchers.
(e) Report.--Not later than December 31, 2026, the Secretary shall
submit to Congress a report containing--
(1) the results of the study conducted under this section;
and
(2) recommendations, based on such study, for addressing
the barriers unique to various agricultural land leasing
relationships to adopting conservation practices on leased
agricultural land, including--
(A) recommendations that can be implemented under
existing statutory authorities;
(B) recommendations that would require
congressional authorization in order to be implemented;
and
(C) recommendations for outreach.
(f) Implementation.--The Secretary may enter into an agreement with
a non-Federal entity (such as a nonprofit entity or university),
selected through an application process, to carry out this section.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Leased agricultural land.--The term ``leased
agricultural land'' means agricultural land that is operated,
under a lease or other rental agreement, by a farmer or rancher
who does not own the land.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture, acting through the National Agricultural
Statistics Service.
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