HR7474-119

What This Bill Does

The bill amends the Food Security Act conservation technical-assistance statute to require USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service to build a soil health management training program within one year. The program must run online curriculum and in-person workshops in every NRCS region twice every two years, use cooperative agreements with soil-health experts, train NRCS staff and third-party providers, provide producer-facing materials, cover topics from soil biology to traditional ecological knowledge, and update the curriculum every two years. It authorizes $10 million for fiscal years 2027 through 2032.

Who Benefits and How

NRCS field staff, third-party conservation providers, conservation districts, land-grant universities, regenerative agriculture nonprofits, and agricultural producers benefit from a funded curriculum and workshop network focused on soil biology, organic systems, diversified production, grazing, soil tests, conservation programs, climate resilience, and producer finance or marketing needs. Farmers and ranchers benefit if advisers can give better technical assistance on practices that reduce input costs, improve water quality, build soil structure, and regenerate farmland.

Who Bears the Burden and How

USDA and NRCS must establish the program, enter cooperative agreements within one year, deliver workshops regionally, maintain an online curriculum, schedule completion for third-party providers, provide continuing education, require producer materials, and update materials every two years. Third-party providers must complete training on NRCS schedules if they want to participate fully, and cooperative-agreement partners must develop and deliver curriculum content tied to statutory topics.

Key Provisions

• Creates an NRCS soil-health management training program within one year of enactment.
• Funds the program with a $10 million authorization for fiscal years 2027 through 2032.
• Requires online curriculum, in-person regional workshops, continuing education, and producer materials.
• Authorizes cooperative agreements with farming consultants, nonprofits, conservation districts, land-grant universities, and Long-Term Agroecosystem Research sites.
• Requires curriculum updates every two years based on soil-health innovation and science.