H.R. 4428

[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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