[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2727 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2727
To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to
authorize grants for eligible institutions to carry out agriculture
workforce training programs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 4, 2025
Ms. Smith introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to
authorize grants for eligible institutions to carry out agriculture
workforce training programs, 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. AGRICULTURE WORKFORCE TRAINING PROGRAM GRANTS.
(a) In General.--Section 2501(d) of the Food, Agriculture,
Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(d)) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(16) Agriculture workforce training program grants.--
``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
``(i) Agriculture workforce training
program.--The term `agriculture workforce
training program' means a training program
developed by an eligible institution in
collaboration with a targeted industry partner
through which students enrolled at that
eligible institution receive training from that
targeted industry partner, including through--
``(I) internships;
``(II) apprenticeships;
``(III) experience-based curricula;
and
``(IV) educational programs and
workshops to promote technical skills.
``(ii) Eligible institution.--The term
`eligible institution' means--
``(I) an 1862 Institution (as
defined in section 2 of the
Agricultural Research, Extension, and
Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C.
7601));
``(II) an 1890 Institution (as
defined in that section);
``(III) a 1994 Institution (as
defined in section 532 of the Equity in
Educational Land-Grant Status Act of
1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note; Public Law
103-382));
``(IV) a non-land-grant college of
agriculture (as defined in section 1404
of the National Agricultural Research,
Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of
1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103));
``(V) Hispanic-serving agricultural
colleges and universities (as defined
in that section);
``(VI) a center of excellence
recognized under section 1673;
``(VII) a junior or community
college (as defined in section 312 of
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1058)) that offers a program of
study in agriculture; and
``(VIII) an area career and
technical education school (as defined
in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins
Career and Technical Education Act of
2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302)) that offers a
program of study in agriculture.
``(iii) Targeted industry partner.--The
term `targeted industry partner' means 1 or
more of the following entities:
``(I) A member of the agriculture
industry, such as a company or industry
association.
``(II) An apprenticeship program in
agriculture registered under the Act of
August 16, 1937 (commonly known as the
`National Apprenticeship Act') (50
Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et
seq.).
``(III) A nonprofit organization
that aims to help individuals gain
employment in the agriculture industry.
``(B) Authorization of grants.--The Secretary,
acting through the Director of the National Institute
of Food and Agriculture, shall award grants in
accordance with this subsection to eligible
institutions to develop and carry out agriculture
workforce training programs--
``(i) to promote the growth of the
agriculture industry;
``(ii) to foster competitiveness within the
agriculture industry; and
``(iii) to improve the training and
retention of workers in the agriculture
industry.
``(C) Use of grant funds.--An eligible institution
awarded a grant under this paragraph shall use not less
than 5 percent of the funds received through the grant
to carry out an agriculture workforce training program,
including--
``(i) preliminary recruitment measures to
encourage students to participate in the
agriculture workforce training program; and
``(ii) professional development sessions to
train faculty to prepare students for
employment in the agriculture industry.''.
(b) Implementation.--Not later than January 31, 2026, the Secretary
of Agriculture shall implement paragraph (16) of section 2501(d) of the
Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C.
2279(d)) (as added by subsection (a)).
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