119-hr1853

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1853 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

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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