Office of Small Farms Establishment Act of 2026
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill adds an Office of Small Farms inside USDA Farm Production and Conservation. A small farm, ranch, or forest operation generally must be under 180 acres, or meet a regional acreage definition, and have annual gross cash farm income below $350,000. The Office director must review USDA programs for barriers, recommend financing and technical assistance, propose research agendas, coordinate technical assistance, operate an anonymous hotline, collaborate with federal and state agencies, and administer grants of up to $25,000. USDA agencies including FSA, NRCS, RMA, Rural Development, NIFA, AMS, ERS, NASS, the Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement, Urban Agriculture, and Tribal Relations must appoint liaisons. Each state receives a small-farms coordinator with at least half of duties focused on small farms. USDA must report annually to agriculture committees and may receive $15 million yearly for the office plus $10 million yearly for technical assistance and grants for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
Who Benefits and How
Small farms, small ranches, small forest operations, beginning farmers, state small-farms coordinators, and USDA field offices benefit from a dedicated office, grants, technical assistance, data tracking, research agendas, and a hotline for program-access problems.
Who Bears the Burden and How
USDA Farm Production and Conservation, USDA agency liaisons, state office employees, State small farms coordinators, and congressional agriculture committees must administer the office, grants, training, state plans, annual reports, and cross-agency coordination.
Key Provisions
- Establishes the USDA Office of Small Farms within the Farm Production and Conservation mission area.
- Creates technical assistance and grants of up to $25,000 for small farms, ranches, and forest operations.
- Requires USDA agency liaisons and State small farms coordinators to coordinate outreach and state plans.
- Authorizes $15 million yearly for office administration and $10 million yearly for technical assistance and grants through fiscal year 2031.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a USDA Office of Small Farms to coordinate small-farm support, operate a hotline, oversee state small-farms coordinators, provide technical assistance, and make grants of up to $25,000 for equipment, uninsured losses, business planning, conservation, and land access.
Key Policy Areas
Agriculture, Rural Development, Government Operations
Primary Purpose
Creates a USDA Office of Small Farms to coordinate small-farm support, operate a hotline, oversee state small-farms coordinators, provide technical assistance, and make grants of up to $25,000 for equipment, uninsured losses, business planning, conservation, and land access.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Small farms
- Small ranches
- Small forest operations
- Beginning farmers
- State small-farms coordinators
Identified Costs
- USDA Farm Production and Conservation
- USDA agency liaisons
- State small farms coordinators
- Congressional agriculture committees
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, …
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House
Ms. Strickland (for herself, Ms. Adams, and Mr. McGovern) introduced …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Small farms, Small forest operations, Small ranches
Congressional agriculture committees, State small farms coordinators, USDA Farm Production and Conservation
Positive-direction: Congressional agriculture committees
Negative-direction: State small farms coordinators, USDA Farm Production and Conservation, USDA Office of Small Farms, USDA agency liaisons
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology