[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4428 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4428
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide additional payments
for producers that, in participating in the conservation stewardship
program, agree to adopt or improve, manage, and maintain perennial
production systems, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 16, 2025
Ms. Underwood (for herself and Mr. Nunn of Iowa) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide additional payments
for producers that, in participating in the conservation stewardship
program, agree to adopt or improve, manage, and maintain perennial
production systems, 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 ``Strong Farms, Strong Future Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
Section 1240I(2) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C.
3839aa-21(2)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``enhancements,''
after ``practices,''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B)(v), by inserting ``climate change
and'' after ``mitigate against,''.
SEC. 3. STEWARDSHIP CONTRACTS.
(a) Evaluation of Contract Offers.--Section 1240K(b)(1)(A) of the
Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-23(b)(1)(A)) is amended--
(1) in clause (ii), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a
semicolon;
(2) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (iv); and
(3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following:
``(iii) other criteria consistent with an
equal weighting of the factors described in
clauses (i) and (ii), as determined by the
Secretary, including criteria the Secretary
determines are necessary to ensure that--
``(I) the program effectively
targets improvements to soil health,
increases in carbon sequestration, and
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions;
and
``(II) other national, State, and
local priority resource concerns are
effectively addressed; and''.
(b) Contract Renewal.--Section 1240K(e) of the Food Security Act of
1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-23(e)) is amended to read as follows:
``(e) Contract Renewal.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary may provide the producer
an opportunity to renew an existing contract in the first half
of the fifth year of the contract period if the producer--
``(A) demonstrates compliance with the terms of the
existing contract;
``(B) agrees to adopt and continue to integrate new
or improved conservation activities across the
agricultural operation, demonstrating continued
improvement during the additional 5-year period, as
determined by the Secretary; and
``(C) agrees, by the end of the contract period, to
meet the stewardship threshold of at least 1 additional
priority resource concern on the agricultural
operation, if applicable.
``(2) Ranking and payments.--In determining whether to
renew an existing contract under paragraph (1), and in
calculating payments for such existing contract, the Secretary
shall consider the full conservation benefits across the entire
agricultural operation on eligible land that is subject to such
existing contract, including--
``(A) the number of priority resource concerns for
which the producer is expected to meet or exceed the
stewardship threshold by the end of the contract period
of the existing contract; and
``(B) the active management and maintenance of
ongoing conservation activities, including--
``(i) the conservation activities adopted
during the contract period of the existing
contract; and
``(ii) the new or improved conservation
activities to be adopted if such existing
contract is renewed.
``(3) Perennial production systems.--The Secretary may
automatically renew an existing contract under paragraph (1)
if--
``(A) the conditions under paragraph (1) are met;
and
``(B) the producer installed or improved a
perennial production system, as such term is defined in
section 1240L(d)(1), during the contract period of the
existing contract.''.
SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.
(a) Conservation Stewardship Payments.--Section 1240L(c)(4) of the
Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-24(c)(4)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) adjust planned annual payments to account for
inflation associated with planning, design, materials,
installation, labor, management, maintenance, or
training incurred by the producer over the life of the
contract.''.
(b) Supplemental Payments for Resource-Conserving Crop Rotations,
Perennial Production Systems, and Advanced Grazing Management.--Section
1240L(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-24(d)) is
amended--
(1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ``, Perennial
Production Systems'' after ``Resource-conserving Crop
Rotations'';
(2) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the following:
``(D) Perennial production system.--The term
`perennial production system' means a system of
agricultural production that produces perennial species
(including agroforestry products, perennial grains and
oilseeds, perennial forages, and other perennial crops,
as determined by the Secretary), including alley
cropping, multifunctional riparian buffers, windbreaks,
shelterbelts, forest farming, silvopasture, and other
related practices, as determined by the Secretary.'';
(3) in paragraph (2)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``or'' at the
end;
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the
following:
``(C) a perennial production system.''; and
(4) in paragraph (3), by striking ``or advanced grazing
management'' and inserting ``, advanced grazing management, or
a perennial production system''.
(c) Establishment of Climate Change Mitigation Bundles.--Section
1240L of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-24) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
``(m) Establishment of Climate Change Mitigation Bundles.--
``(1) Climate change mitigation bundle defined.--In this
subsection, the term `climate change mitigation bundle' means a
grouping of conservation activities, determined by the
Secretary and based on the best available science, to achieve
substantial progress, when carried out together, toward--
``(A) providing a net reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions; or
``(B) increasing carbon sequestration and improving
soil health.
``(2) Availability.--In entering into a contract with a
producer under the program, the Secretary shall make available
State- or region-specific climate change mitigation bundles to
such a producer, including climate change mitigation bundles
for cropland, pastureland, rangeland, and forest land.
``(3) Flexibility.--The Secretary shall, to the maximum
extent practicable, design climate change mitigation bundles
that allow a producer to select conservation activities that
meet the requirements of paragraph (1)(A) in order to tailor a
climate change mitigation bundle to the site-specific needs of
such a producer.
``(4) Minimum bundles offered.--The Secretary shall make
available at least 1 climate change mitigation bundle for each
of the following:
``(A) Perennial production systems, as defined in
subsection (d)(1).
``(B) Soil health management systems, as defined in
such subsection.
``(C) Advanced grazing management, as defined in
such subsection.
``(D) Specialty crops.
``(5) Applicability to organic production.--Climate change
mitigation bundles made available under paragraph (2) shall be
equally accessible to organic and conventional producers, or
separate additional bundles designed for organic producers
shall be offered.
``(6) Promotion.--Each year, to the greatest extent
practicable, the Secretary shall conduct targeted outreach and
promotion regarding the availability of, and any changes to,
climate change mitigation bundles to eligible producers.''.
(d) Report.--
(1) General.--Not later than 2 years after the date on
which the Secretary of Agriculture makes available to producers
the climate change mitigation bundles under section 1240L(m) of
the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-24) (as added
by subsection (c)), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee
on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate
a report on the activities carried out under such section.
(2) Contents.--The Secretary shall include in the report
under paragraph (1)--
(A) a summary of feedback from producers that have
adopted climate change mitigation bundles pursuant to
section 1240L(m), regarding--
(i) barriers to adoption of such bundles;
(ii) the makeup of such bundles;
(iii) payment rates for such bundles;
(iv) technical assistance relating to such
bundles; and
(v) other relevant information, as
determined by the Secretary;
(B) data on such producers disaggregated by gender,
race, age, and congressional district;
(C) an assessment of barriers, as identified by the
Secretary, to the adoption of climate change mitigation
bundles by producers;
(D) recommendations on steps to increase the
adoption of climate change mitigation bundles by
producers, including recommendations for any statutory
changes necessary to implement such steps;
(E) average per acre estimates of greenhouse gases
mitigated and carbon sequestered for each climate
change mitigation bundle offered; and
(F) a summary of the outreach and promotional
activities conducted by the Secretary to promote the
availability of climate change mitigation bundles.
(3) Climate change mitigation bundle defined.--In this
subsection, the term ``climate change mitigation bundle'' has
the meaning given such term in section 1240L(m)(1) of the Food
Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-24) (as added by
subsection (c)).
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