No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1713 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1713
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to authorize the Secretary of
Agriculture to improve agricultural productivity, profitability,
resilience, and ecological outcomes through modernized data
infrastructure and analysis, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 12, 2025
Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Mr. Thune) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to authorize the Secretary of
Agriculture to improve agricultural productivity, profitability,
resilience, and ecological outcomes through modernized data
infrastructure and analysis, 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 ``Agriculture Innovation Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. DATA ON CONSERVATION AND OTHER PRODUCTION PRACTICES.
Subtitle E of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C.
3841 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 1248. DATA ON CONSERVATION AND OTHER PRODUCTION PRACTICES.
``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to improve
conservation outcomes, increase agricultural productivity and
resilience, and accelerate the development of ecosystem service markets
by collecting, analyzing, and providing data--
``(1) to better understand how covered conservation
practices and suites of covered conservation practices and
other production practices impact farm, ranch, and other
working land productivity and profitability (such as crop
yields, soil health, and other risk-reducing factors);
``(2) to support the measurement and quantification of
ecosystem services provided by working land, such as soil
health, water filtration, and habitat, that result from covered
conservation practices and other production practices; and
``(3) to improve the implementation of Department programs
to optimize productivity, profitability, and ecological
benefits.
``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Covered conservation practice.--The term `covered
conservation practice' means a specific conservation practice
or enhancement that is designed to protect soil health, farm
and ranch productivity, or both (including the protection of
wildlife habitat) while maintaining or enhancing crop yields in
an economically sustainable manner (including such a
conservation practice or enhancement that is supported by the
Department or used independently by a producer), as determined
by the Secretary.
``(2) Department.--The term `Department' means the
Department of Agriculture.
``(3) Other production practice.--The term `other
production practice' means a practice used to produce a crop or
livestock, including pest control, nutrient management, manure
management, water and irrigation management, seed, feed and
nutrition, and crop residue management.
``(c) Data Collection, Review, Analysis, and Technical
Assistance.--The Secretary, acting through the 1 or more applicable
Under Secretaries that head mission areas relating to farm and ranch
productivity and conservation, in coordination with the Chief Data
Officer of the Department, the Chief Economist, and the Under Secretary
for Research, Education, and Economics, shall carry out the following
activities:
``(1) Identify in the data inventory maintained by the
Secretary under section 3511 of title 44, United States Code,
data relating to the impacts of covered conservation practices
and other production practices on enhancing crop yields, soil
health, and ecosystem services, reducing risk, and improving
farm, ranch, and other working land profitability generated or
collected by the Department, including the Farm Service Agency,
the Risk Management Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation
Service, the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the
Economic Research Service, the Forest Service, and any other
relevant agency, as determined by the Secretary.
``(2) Collect or acquire, using other authorities of the
Secretary, and using technology and a modernized survey system,
to the greatest extent practicable, or another appropriate
method, any additional producer data, baseline data, or other
data relating to the impacts of covered conservation practices
and other production practices on enhancing crop yields, soil
health, and ecosystem services, reducing risk, and improving
farm, ranch, and other working land profitability necessary to
achieve the purpose described in subsection (a), ensuring that
data is collected from all types and sizes of operations.
``(3) Ensure that producer data identified or collected
under paragraph (1) or (2) are collected in a compatible format
that is machine-readable (as defined in section 3502 of title
44, United States Code) at the field- and farm-level and in a
manner that places the lowest practicable burden on producers
and improves the interoperability of the data collected by the
Department for the purposes of this section and optimizes the
interoperability, to the extent practicable, with data relating
to conservation practices generated by other organizations and
other activities of the Department.
``(4) Establish procedures for producers to voluntarily
provide supplemental data that may be useful in statistical
activities (as defined in section 311 of title 5, United States
Code) and activities to build evidence (as defined in that
section) of the impacts of covered conservation practices on--
``(A) enhancing crop yields, soil health, and
ecosystem services;
``(B) reducing risk; and
``(C) improving farm, ranch, and other working land
profitability.
``(5) Integrate, collate, and link, to the greatest extent
practicable, data identified or collected under this subsection
with other government or nongovernmental data sources that
include crop yields, soil health, covered conservation
practices, and other production practices.
``(6) Establish a conservation and farm productivity secure
data center designed to carry out the purposes of this section
that ensures the security, privacy, and integrity of data.
``(7) Make available data through the secure data center
established under paragraph (6) to academic institutions and
researchers that meet the user permission requirements
described in subsection (d)(2)(A) for the provision of
technical assistance.
``(8) Analyze, consistent with the scientific integrity
policy of the Department, the data identified or collected
under this subsection to consider the impacts of covered
conservation practices and other production practices on
enhancing crop yields, soil health, and ecosystem services and
improving farm, ranch, and other working land profitability.
``(9) Use the results of the analyses under paragraph (8)
to improve the implementation and efficiency of Department
programs to increase productivity, profitability, and
ecological benefits of farm, ranch, and other working land,
including relating to issues identified in the evidence-
building plan of the Department required under section 312 of
title 5, United States Code.
``(10) Promptly make available on the public-facing
component of the secure data center established under paragraph
(6) the research, analysis, evaluation products, and other
information generated in carrying out this section (including
open Government data assets (as defined in section 3502 of
title 44, United States Code), to the extent permissible by
law)--
``(A) that demonstrates the impacts of covered
conservation practices and other production practices
on enhancing crop yields, soil health, and ecosystem
services, reducing risk, and improving farm, ranch, and
other working land profitability; and
``(B) in a manner that is easily accessed by
producers, researchers, and other stakeholders.
``(d) Secure Agricultural Data Center Establishment.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary may enter into 1 or more
agreements with 1 or more academic institutions, organizations,
government agencies, or other experts determined necessary by
the Secretary to provide technical assistance, expertise, and
technology infrastructure, as needed, to develop the secure
data center under subsection (c)(6).
``(2) Requirement to modernize data security, storage, and
access.--
``(A) In general.--In establishing the secure data
center described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall
use industry-standard data security protocols and user
permissions to protect the security and confidentiality
of proprietary producer data while automating and
standardizing data collection, storage, and sharing, to
the greatest extent practicable, for the purpose of
carrying out this section and encouraging agriculture
innovation.
``(B) Requirements.--In carrying out subparagraph
(A), the Secretary shall establish procedures for the
operation and use of the secure data center that
include--
``(i) prohibiting the sale of any
individual or identifiable producer data;
``(ii) a method to provide disclosure
review of research resulting from data for
which access is provided prior to public
release to ensure that no information that is
otherwise protected from disclosure by law is
disclosed;
``(iii) requiring any published research to
release only aggregated and anonymized data,
consistent with best practices for disclosure
avoidance and reducing the risk of re-
identification; and
``(iv) periodically consulting with experts
and stakeholders to consider necessary
modifications to security protocols or
confidentiality protections for identifiable
data accessed or maintained by the secure data
center and improvements to access for approved
users.
``(C) Additional requirements.--In carrying out
subparagraphs (A) and (B), the Secretary shall
establish measures to ensure proposals to use data made
available through the secure data center to academic
institutions and researchers--
``(i) would have statistical results that
pose no risk of unauthorized disclosure of
protected data;
``(ii) are feasible given the features of
the data; and
``(iii) would be consistent with the
purposes for which the data were collected,
including for developing evidence that can be
used for technical assistance and assessment of
program outcomes.
``(e) Producer Tools.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 3 years after the date of
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall provide
technical assistance, including through internet-based tools,
based on the analysis conducted in carrying out this section
and other sources of relevant data, to assist producers in
improving sustainable production practices that increase yields
and enhance environmental outcomes.
``(2) Internet-based tools.--Internet-based tools described
in paragraph (1) shall provide to producers, to the greatest
extent practicable--
``(A) confidential data specific to each farm or
ranch of the producer; and
``(B) general data relating to the impacts of
covered conservation practices on enhancing crop
yields, soil health, and otherwise reducing risk and
improving farm and ranch profitability.
``(f) Effect on Privacy Protection Laws.--Nothing in this section
affects the applicability to this section of--
``(1) section 1770;
``(2) section 1619 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy
Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8791);
``(3) section 502(c) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7
U.S.C. 1502(c));
``(4) section 552a of title 5, United States Code; or
``(5) any other applicable privacy law that protects
personally identifiable information of producers.
``(g) Reporting.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this section, and each year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit
to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate
and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a
report that includes--
``(1) a summary of the analysis conducted under this
section;
``(2) the number and regions of producers that voluntarily
provided data under subsection (c)(4);
``(3) a description of any additional or new activities
planned to be conducted under this section in the next fiscal
year, including--
``(A) research relating to any additional
conservation practices;
``(B) any new types of data to be collected;
``(C) any improved or streamlined data collection
efforts associated with this section; and
``(D) any new research projects;
``(4) a summary of the procedures for the operation and use
of the secure data center under subsection (c)(6), including
procedures for protecting the security and confidentiality of
proprietary producer data; and
``(5) in the case of the first 2 reports submitted under
this subsection, a description of the current status of the
implementation of activities under subsection (c).
``(h) Funding and Administration.--The Secretary shall use the
existing funds and authorities of the Department to carry out this
section.
``(i) Effect.--Nothing in this section authorizes the Secretary to
compel a producer--
``(1) to provide data to the Department; or
``(2) to receive technical assistance.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
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