Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to recognize centers of excellence in several areas, including digital agriculture, which focuses on developing AI and remote sensing systems. Instructs host institutions to partner with entities like the Agricultural Research Service to enhance research coordination and fill program gaps. Authorizes up to $10 million annually from 2026 to 2030 for implementing these centers. Establishes a grant program to protect the U.S. food and agriculture system from cybersecurity threats, awarding grants for research or development in agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity. Specifies eligible grant recipients, such as universities and research institutions. Encourages research, teaching programs, and facility upgrades to enhance biosecurity and cybersecurity expertise, emphasizing the importance of trained individuals and protective infrastructures. Authorizes an additional $10 million annually from 2026 to 2030 for the grant program.
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HR 4155 Agricultural Security Research Act of 2025
ETO AGORA · U.S. federal laws · 2025
Summary
Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to recognize centers of excellence in several areas, including digital agriculture, which focuses on developing AI and remote sensing systems.
Instructs host institutions to partner with entities like the Agricultural Research Service to enhance research coordination and fill program gaps.
Authorizes up to $10 million annually from 2026 to 2030 for implementing these centers.
Establishes a grant program to protect the U.S. food and agriculture system from cybersecurity threats, awarding grants for research or development in agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity.
Specifies eligible grant recipients, such as universities and research institutions.
Encourages research, teaching programs, and facility upgrades to enhance biosecurity and cybersecurity expertise, emphasizing the importance of trained individuals and protective infrastructures.
Authorizes an additional $10 million annually from 2026 to 2030 for the grant program.
Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to recognize centers of excellence per an amendment to existing law.
119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4155
To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to recognize centers of excellence, and for other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 26, 2025
Mr. Bacon introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
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A BILL
To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to recognize centers of excellence, 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 ``American Agricultural Security Research Act of 2025''.
Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to recognize centers of excellence for aquaculture and beginning farmers' programs.
SEC. 2. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.
Section 1673 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5926) is amended-- (1) by striking subsections (a) through (c) and inserting the following:
``(a) Centers of Excellence.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall recognize at least one center of excellence for each of the areas of focus described in paragraph (2) for the purpose of carrying out research, extension, and education programs.
``(2) Areas of focus.--A center of excellence recognized under this subsection may engage in research, extension, and education programs focused on the following:
``(A) Aquaculture.--Developing and applying aquaculture methods, including through the propagation and rearing of economically and ecologically valuable aquatic and marine species.
``(B) Beginning farmers and ranchers.--Training beginning farmers and ranchers, including training on farm and agribusiness management, mentoring and technical assistance, and access to capital.
Describes threats to agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity and technologies to enhance agricultural productivity and protection.
``(C) Biosecurity and cybersecurity.--Agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity efforts to defend the food supply of the United States from--
``(i) a biosecurity or cybersecurity attack; or ``(ii) other global catastrophic and existential threats, as defined in section 7302 of the Global Catastrophic Risk Management Act of 2022 (6 U.S.C. 821).
``(D) Biosystems and agricultural engineering.-- Biosystems and agricultural engineering, including precision agriculture technologies and mechanization and automation technologies for specialty crops.
``(E) Biotechnology.--Development of animal and plant biotechnologies that will increase agricultural productivity.
``(F) Crop production, protection, and resilience.--Crop production and protection, including the development, manufacture, and use of fertilizer, crop protection tools, and adjuvants in increasing productivity and protecting crops from damaging pests and diseases.
Develops, evaluates, and deploys digital agriculture, including artificial intelligence and remote sensing systems.
``(G) Digital agriculture.--Developing, evaluating, and deploying digital agriculture, including artificial intelligence and remote sensing systems.
``(H) Farm business and financial management.--Farm business and financial management activities, including marketing plans, production diversification, and cash forward contracting.
``(I) Food quality.--Improving food quality, including research on the uptake of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in food, the presence of microplastics in biosolids, and the efficacy and feasibility of reducing levels of inorganic arsenic, lead, cadmium, or mercury in food.
``(J) Foreign animal disease.--Foreign animal diseases, including the ecology and etiology of emerging diseases, control methods, and implementation strategies to enhance preparedness and response efforts to protect the livestock and poultry industry.
``(K) Forestry.--Forest productivity and forest health, including invasive species control, biochar and pyrolysis development and commercialization, reforestation and restoration of damaged landscapes, and new wood-based materials.
Defines eligible host institutions for a center of excellence as 1862, 1890, or 1994 Institutions.
``(3) Host institutions.-- ``(A) In general.--An institution eligible to host or co-host a center of excellence recognized under this subsection means--
``(i) a 1862 Institution, as defined in section 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601);
``(ii) a 1890 Institution, as defined in section 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601);
``(iii) a 1994 Institution, as defined in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land- Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note);
Requires the Secretary to ensure geographic diversity in selecting institutions for hosting centers of excellence.
``(iv) a non-land-grant college of agriculture, as defined in section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103);
``(v) a Hispanic-serving agricultural college or university, as defined in section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103); and
``(vi) a college or school of veterinary medicine accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association.
``(B) Distribution.--To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure the geographic diversity of institutions selected to host or co-host a center of excellence recognized under this subsection.
``(C) Limitation.--An institution may host or co- host only one center of excellence recognized under this subsection during any given period.
Requires institutions hosting centers to partner with various entities to enhance coordination and use public-private partnerships.
``(D) Duties.--A institution selected to host or co-host a center of excellence recognized under this subsection shall partner with the Agricultural Research Service, other Federal agencies, State governments, other institutions of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)), agricultural industry groups, or other relevant entities to--
``(i) reduce duplicative efforts and focus on filling gaps across research, extension, and education programs by enhancing coordination and improving cost-effectiveness;
``(ii) leverage available resources by using public-private partnerships;
Requires implementing training for awareness and disseminating solutions to target audiences through extension activities.
``(iii) implement training and educational initiatives to increase awareness and effectively disseminate solutions to target audiences through extension activities;
``(iv) increase economic returns to rural communities by identifying, attracting, and directing funds to high-priority agricultural issues;
``(v) rapidly respond to emerging issues that threaten any sector of the agricultural industry of the United States;
``(vi) focus on workforce development for employers to recruit and retain high-quality employees in rural areas; and
``(vii) engage in assistance for administrative management and education regarding potentially valuable intellectual property derived from federally supported research, extension, and education programs.
Prohibits using funds for construction or alteration of buildings in award under this subsection.
``(4) Duration.--The term of an award under this subsection shall be for a five-year period and may be renewed for not more than one additional five-year period.
``(5) Construction prohibited.--Funds made available under this subsection shall not be used for--
``(A) the construction of a new building or facility; or
``(B) the acquisition, expansion, remodeling, or alteration of an existing building or facility (including site grading and improvement and architect fees).
Requires the Secretary to submit an annual report on agricultural research projects to relevant congressional committees.
``(6) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of enactment of the American Agricultural Security Research Act of 2025, and every year thereafter, 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 describing--
``(A) the projects initiated in the preceding year by each center of excellence recognized under this subsection;
``(B) the amount of funding for each such project and the funding source;
``(C) the institutions participating in each such project and their shares of the overall funding for each project;
``(D) the level of cost-sharing for each such project;
``(E) any technology transfer and intellectual property management actions taken by each such center of excellence, including the number of relevant invention disclosures, any provisional patents filed, any non-provisional patents filed and issued, the number of licenses executed, and any start-up companies registered; and
``(F) any additional information deemed necessary by the Secretary.
Authorizes $10 million annually to the Secretary for fiscal years 2026-2030 to implement this subsection.
``(7) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to carry out this subsection.''; (2) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (b); and (3) in subsection (b), as so redesignated--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``The Secretary'' and inserting ``In addition to the centers of excellence recognized under subsection (a), the Secretary''; and
(ii) by striking ``3'' and inserting ``8'';
Focuses a center of excellence on data sciences and sustainable forest and agriculture management.
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in subparagraph (A)--
(I) in the subparagraph heading, by striking ``and workforce development'' and inserting ``, workforce development, and rural studies''; and
(II) by inserting ``economics, psychology, rural sociology, data sciences,'' after ``mathematics,'';
(ii) in subparagraph (E), by inserting ``and developing nature-based solutions to improve the composition of soil organic compounds, including carbon, that are beneficial to soil quality and the environment'' before the period at the end; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(G) Forest health and conservation.--A center of excellence established under paragraph (1) may focus on forest health, sustainable forest management, agroforestry, enhancing forest resilience to catastrophic wildfire, supporting rural infrastructure, and urban and community forestry programs to promote healthy forest ecosystems and resilient communities.
``(H) Food safety, bioprocessing, and value-added agriculture.--A center of excellence established under paragraph (1) may focus on food safety, bioprocessing, value-added agriculture enterprise development, and innovative food and agriculture product development.''; and
(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``2023'' and inserting ``2029''.
Requires the Secretary to award grants for research and education on protecting agriculture from various threats.
SEC. 3. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PROTECTION GRANT PROGRAM.
Section 1485 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3352) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 1485. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PROTECTION GRANT PROGRAM.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a program under which the Secretary will award grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities to support research, extension, and education activities that improve the capability of the United States to protect the food and agricultural system from--
``(1) a chemical, biological, cybersecurity, or bioterrorism attack; or
``(2) other global catastrophic and existential threats, as defined in section 7302 of the Global Catastrophic Risk Management Act of 2022 (6 U.S.C. 821).
Requires grant recipients to enhance agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity research, teaching, and facility capabilities.
``(b) Use of Funds.--An eligible entity that receives a grant under this section shall use funds received through the grant--
``(1) to encourage basic and applied research on, and the development of, qualified agricultural countermeasures;
``(2) to promote the development and expansion of teaching programs in agriculture, veterinary medicine, and other disciplines closely allied to the food and agriculture system of the United States to increase the number of trained individuals with an expertise in agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity;
``(3) to expand or upgrade facilities to meet biosafety and biosecurity requirements necessary to protect facility staff, members of the public, and the food supply while carrying out agricultural biosecurity research;
``(4) to cover costs associated with the acquisition of equipment and other capital costs related to expansion of food, agriculture, and veterinary medicine teaching programs in agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity; or
``(5) to otherwise improve the capacity of the United States to respond in a timely manner to emerging or existing threats.
Specifies entities eligible for grants and authorizes $10 million annually for fiscal years 2026-2030.
``(c) Eligible Entities.--An entity eligible to receive a grant under this section is-- ``(1) a State agricultural experiment station; ``(2) a State department of agriculture; ``(3) a college or university; ``(4) a university research foundation; ``(5) a research institution or organization; ``(6) a Federal agency; ``(7) a national laboratory; or ``(8) any group consisting of 2 or more of the entities described in paragraphs (1) through (7).
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.''.