H.R. 4428: Strong Farms, Strong Future Act

This bill, known as the Strong Farms, Strong Future Act, aims to enhance agricultural practices focusing on sustainability and climate change mitigation. Below is a summary of its key provisions:

Overview

The Act instructs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide extra payments to farmers who participate in the conservation stewardship program and agree to adopt or improve perennial production systems. Perennial production systems refer to agricultural approaches that utilize perennial plants, which can lead to more sustainable farming practices.

Definitions

The bill makes several amendments to existing legislation, specifically the Food Security Act of 1985, including:

• Enhancing definitions to include considerations for climate change.
• Defining perennial production systems to include various practices such as agroforestry, alley cropping, and silvopasture.

Stewardship Contracts

The legislation modifies the evaluation criteria for stewardship contracts under the conservation stewardship program:

• New criteria focus on improving soil health, reducing greenhouse gases, and addressing national and local resource concerns.
• It allows for the automatic renewal of contracts if specific conditions related to perennial production systems are met.

Duties of the Secretary of Agriculture

Responsibilities assigned to the Secretary include:

• Adjusting annual payments for inflation related to the costs incurred by farmers during contracts.
• Providing supplemental payments for adopting resource-conserving crop rotations, perennial production systems, and advanced grazing management techniques.
• Establishing climate change mitigation bundles, which are groups of conservation activities designed to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve soil health.

Climate Change Mitigation Bundles

The Act states that the Secretary must:

• Make climate change mitigation bundles available specifically designed for various types of agricultural lands, including cropland, pastureland, rangeland, and forest land.
• Ensure that these bundles are accessible to both organic and conventional producers.
• Promote the availability and changes in mitigation bundles to eligible producers each year.

Reporting Requirements

The Secretary is required to submit a report within two years on the effectiveness of the climate change mitigation bundles, including:

• Feedback from farmers regarding barriers to adoption.
• Details on the composition of the bundles, payment rates, and technical assistance.
• Disaggregated data on producers by demographic factors.
• Recommendations to encourage broader adoption of these bundles.

Relevant Companies

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