Office of Small Farms Establishment Act of 2023

Office of Small Farms Establishment Act of 2023

This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish the Office of Small Farms within the farm production and conservation mission area.

The office must coordinate, review, and implement various programs and activities related to small farms, ranches, and forest operations. Under the bill, a small farm, ranch, or forest operation (1) is less than 180 acres or meets another USDA-determined, acreage-based definition of small; and (2) has an annual gross cash farm income of less than $350,000.

Activities of the office related to small farms, ranches, and forest operations must include

• coordinating USDA efforts to improve support for these operators;
• reviewing and recommending changes to USDA statutory, regulatory, and administrative provisions, guidance, and policies that disadvantage these operators;
• providing or coordinating technical assistance for these operators for USDA grant, cost-share, and loan programs; and
• providing grants of not more than $25,000 to these operators directly or through cooperative agreements with other entities for areas including equipment and infrastructure repairs and upgrades, uninsured losses, business planning, and conservation practice adoption.

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3877 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3877

 To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 
      establish an Office of Small Farms, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 6, 2023

 Ms. Strickland (for herself, Ms. Adams, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Thompson of 
Mississippi, Ms. Tokuda, Ms. Crockett, and Ms. DelBene) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 
      establish an Office of Small Farms, 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 ``Office of Small Farms Establishment 
Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF SMALL FARMS.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle B of the Department of Agriculture 
Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6931 et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following:

``SEC. 229. OFFICE OF SMALL FARMS.

    ``(a) Definition of Small Farm, Ranch, or Forest Operation.--In 
this section, the term `small farm, ranch, or forest operation' means a 
farm, ranch, or forest operation that--
            ``(1)(A) is less than 180 acres; or
            ``(B) meets another acreage-based definition of `small', as 
        determined by the Secretary, that takes into consideration--
                    ``(i) the State or region in which the farm, ranch, 
                or forest operation is located;
                    ``(ii) the production system of the farm, ranch, or 
                forest operation; or
                    ``(iii) both; and
            ``(2) has annual gross cash farm income of less than 
        $350,000.
    ``(b) Establishment.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish within the 
        farm production and conservation mission area the Office of 
        Small Farms.
            ``(2) Director.--The Secretary shall appoint a Director of 
        the Office of Small Farms (referred to in this section as the 
        `Director'). A senior official within the farm production and 
        conservation mission area may be appointed to serve as the 
        Director.
    ``(c) Duties.--The Director shall--
            ``(1) coordinate efforts to improve support for small 
        farms, ranches, and forest operations across all Department 
        agencies and offices;
            ``(2) review Department programs and policies and identify 
        statutory, regulatory, and administrative provisions, policies, 
        and guidance that disadvantage small farm, ranch, or forest 
        operation participation, and recommend changes to ensure that 
        those programs and policies adequately serve small farms, 
        ranches, and forest operations;
            ``(3) develop recommendations for new initiatives, 
        including financing mechanisms and technical assistance 
        opportunities, to specifically serve small farms, ranches, and 
        forest operations relating to production, conservation, 
        business planning, land access, and other issues, as determined 
        by the Secretary;
            ``(4) make recommendations to Department agencies and 
        offices and other Federal agencies on tracking small farm, 
        ranch, or forest operation data, including demographics and 
        program participation rates;
            ``(5) propose research agendas on topics that are of 
        special interest to small farms, ranches, and forest 
        operations;
            ``(6) provide or coordinate technical assistance through 
        the Department or through cooperative agreements with other 
        entities to operators of small farms, ranches, and forest 
        operations to enable those operators to access the full 
        complement of Department grant, cost-share, and loan programs;
            ``(7) implement program directly or through cooperative 
        agreements with other entities to provide grants of not more 
        than $25,000 to operators of small farms, ranches, and forest 
        operations for--
                    ``(A) equipment and infrastructure repairs and 
                upgrades;
                    ``(B) uninsured losses;
                    ``(C) business planning and market development 
                assistance;
                    ``(D) conservation practice adoption;
                    ``(E) down payments for land acquisition; and
                    ``(F) such other purposes as the Secretary 
                determines to be appropriate;
            ``(8) operate a hotline through which operators of small 
        farms, ranches, and forest operations can anonymously report 
        problems that the operators encounter in attempts to access 
        Department programs; and
            ``(9) advise other Federal agencies on how to effectively 
        reach and serve small farms, ranches, and forest operations.
    ``(d) Liaisons.--The following officials shall appoint, from among 
the officers and employees under the respective official, a liaison to 
the Office of Small Farms:
            ``(1) The Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation 
        Service.
            ``(2) The Administrator of the Farm Service Agency.
            ``(3) The Administrator of the Risk Management Agency.
            ``(4) The Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural 
        Development.
            ``(5) The Director of the National Institute of Food and 
        Agriculture.
            ``(6) The Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing 
        Service.
            ``(7) The Administrator of the National Agricultural 
        Statistics Service.
            ``(8) The Director of the Office of Partnerships and Public 
        Engagement.
            ``(9) The heads of such other agencies, advisory groups, 
        and offices as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, 
        including--
                    ``(A) the Office of Urban Agriculture and 
                Innovative Production; and
                    ``(B) the Office of Tribal Relations.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated--
            ``(1) $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 
        2028 for the administration of the Office of Small Farms; and
            ``(2) $10,000,000 for each fiscal year to provide technical 
        assistance and grants authorized by this section.''.
    (b) Technical Amendment.--The Department of Agriculture 
Reorganization Act of 1994 is amended by redesignating the first 
section 225 (7 U.S.C. 6925) (relating to the Food Access Liaison) as 
section 224A.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 296(b) of the Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) The authority of the Secretary to carry out section 
        229.''.
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