H.R. 5097

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5097 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5097

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to direct the Secretary 
of Agriculture to establish a program under which the Secretary will 
award grants to specialty crop producers to acquire certain equipment 
and provide training with respect to the use of such equipment.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 2, 2025

Mr. Valadao (for himself, Mr. Costa, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Panetta, Mr. 
LaMalfa, and Mr. Harder of California) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to direct the Secretary 
of Agriculture to establish a program under which the Secretary will 
award grants to specialty crop producers to acquire certain equipment 
and provide training with respect to the use of such equipment.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AUTOMATION AND MECHANIZATION GRANTS FOR SPECIALTY CROPS 
PRODUCERS.

Subtitle A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 210B. AUTOMATION AND MECHANIZATION GRANTS.

``(a) In General.--For purposes of enhancing the competitiveness of 
specialty crop producers in the United States, the Secretary of 
Agriculture, acting through the Administrator of the Agricultural 
Marketing Service, shall establish a program under which the Secretary 
will award grants to eligible entities to acquire certain equipment and 
provide training with respect to the use of such equipment.
``(b) Use of Funds.--An eligible entity receiving a grant under 
this section shall use funds received through the grant--
``(1) to acquire mechanized or automated systems and tools 
that increase the efficiency of a task or reduce human labor 
for a specific activity, as determined by the Secretary; and
``(2) to provide training, including worker training, and 
other professional services required to learn how to deploy and 
effectively operate such systems and tools, as determined by 
the Secretary.
``(c) Amount of Grants.--To the maximum extent practicable, the 
Secretary shall seek to ensure that the amount of a grant awarded to a 
single eligible entity is sufficient to provide a significant offset to 
the costs such eligible entity incurs in carrying out the activities 
specified in subsection (b).
``(d) Matching Funds Requirement.--The recipient of a grant under 
this section shall provide non-Federal matching funds equal to not less 
than 50 percent of the amount of the grant.
``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Mechanized or automated systems and tools.--The term 
`mechanized or automated systems and tools' includes--
``(A) low dust harvesting tools and equipment;
``(B) grinding and chipping tools and equipment;
``(C) sorting machines;
``(D) phytosanitary, infrared, and pasteurization 
tools and equipment;
``(E) traceability tools and equipment;
``(F) storage and warehousing tools and equipment;
``(G) drones for monitoring commodity piles and 
feedstuff for cattle;
``(H) hedgers or shredders;
``(I) wireless, networks, and connectivity 
equipment to support IoT devices;
``(J) remote, mobile, or drone sensing sensors for 
field level monitoring of environmental variables for 
use in farm production or processing management 
decision making;
``(K) enhanced precision irrigation automation, 
remote sensing, and metering, pest and disease 
detection, nutrient analysis, and crop load assessment 
equipment and tools;
``(L) crop monitoring and analytics equipment and 
tools;
``(M) potential and predictive near-infrared crop 
damaged assessments;
``(N) robotic, semi-autonomous, autonomous, or 
mechanized systems or other tools;
``(O) equipment and tools that automate or 
mechanize seeding, weeding, harvesting, packing (field 
and in-house), pruning, spraying, transporting, or 
climate protection (such as shade cloth or light 
manipulation); and
``(P) such other automated or mechanized systems or 
tools that increase efficiency, as determined by the 
Secretary.
``(2) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means an 
individual or entity engaged in the commercial production of 
specialty crops in the United States.''.
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