119-hr4428

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4428 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

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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