HR5902-119

What This Bill Does

The Innovative Practices for Soil Health Act of 2025 amends the Food Security Act conservation stewardship program and related conservation technical assistance authorities. It reframes conservation stewardship around maintaining, actively managing, and where practicable improving existing conservation activities while undertaking additional conservation activities. It defines resource concern as a condition of the soil, water, air, plant, animal, or energy resource base that impairs sustainability or intended uses. It requires ranking criteria to target soil health improvements, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emission reductions, and other national, State, and local priority resource concerns. Contract renewal would depend on compliance, adoption and integration of new or improved conservation activities across the entire agricultural operation, and meeting stewardship thresholds for at least two additional priority resource concerns when applicable. Payments can reflect income forgone from increased economic risk, production changes, anticipated yield reductions, transition to organic, resource-conserving cropping or grazing, perennial production systems, or acreage converted to conservation uses. The bill defines perennial production systems to include agroforestry, alley cropping, silvopasture, forest farming, multistory cropping, perennial forages, and perennial grain crops, and directs outreach and soil testing payments to measure soil health and carbon sequestration. It expands eligible technical assistance providers and planning categories to individuals and Tribal entities and to soil health, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, integrated pest management, agroforestry, and organic transition planning. It also replaces the old agroforestry center structure with a National Agroforestry Research, Development, and Demonstration Center at the Forest Service Forestry Sciences Laboratory in Lincoln, Nebraska, at least three regional agroforestry centers, national and regional directors, expanded agroforestry research and technical assistance functions, information sharing on federal, State, local, and Tribal support programs, and regional grant programs for agroforestry projects and demonstration farms.

Who Benefits and How

Farmers adopting soil health practices benefit because conservation stewardship ranking and renewal rules explicitly reward soil health, carbon sequestration, and greenhouse gas reductions. Producers transitioning to organic, resource-conserving, perennial, or agroforestry systems benefit because income-forgone payments can reflect transition costs, risk, and yield effects. Agroforestry producers benefit from a national center, at least three regional centers, technical assistance, research, demonstration, and regional grant programs. Tribal conservation partners benefit because technical assistance provisions explicitly add Tribal entities and programs. Soil testing providers and conservation planners benefit from new payment and planning categories tied to soil health and emissions reduction.

Who Bears the Burden and How

USDA conservation program staff must revise ranking criteria, renewal rules, payment calculations, outreach, soil testing payments, and conservation planning categories. NRCS and Forest Service staff must establish regional agroforestry centers, appoint directors, coordinate the centers, and run new grant programs. Producers seeking renewed contracts must document compliance and continued improvement across the entire operation. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of expanded technical assistance, soil testing payments, agroforestry centers, and regional grants.

Key Provisions

• Defines resource concern and revises conservation stewardship activities to emphasize active management, soil health, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas reductions, and climate change.
• Requires ranking and renewal rules to consider whole-operation conservation benefits, added priority resource concerns, and continued improvement over an additional five years.
• Expands income-forgone payment factors to include increased economic risk, yield reductions, organic transition, resource-conserving systems, perennial systems, and acreage converted to conservation uses.
• Defines perennial production systems to include agroforestry, silvopasture, forest farming, perennial forages, and perennial grain crops.
• Expands technical assistance and planning to individuals, Tribal entities, soil health, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, agroforestry, organic transition, and perennial agriculture systems.
• Establishes a National Agroforestry Research, Development, and Demonstration Center, at least three regional centers, directors, information-sharing duties, and regional grant programs.