[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2614 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2614

   To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to expand the provision of 
        farmer-led technical assistance, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 27, 2023

 Mr. Lujan (for himself and Mr. Moran) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 
                        Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to expand the provision of 
        farmer-led technical assistance, 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 ``Farmer to Farmer Education Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. DELIVERY OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

    Section 1242 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3842) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph 
                (3); and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) Farmer-to-farmer network.--The term `farmer-to-farmer 
        network' means any affiliation or association of farmers that 
        share information, technical assistance, or any other type of 
        mutually beneficial support.'';
            (2) in subsection (f)(1), by inserting ``and for the 
        purpose of carrying out subsection (j)'' before the period at 
        the end; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) Provision of Assistance to Farmer-to-Farmer Networks.--
            ``(1) Purposes.--The purposes of this subsection are--
                    ``(A) to build capacity for farmer-to-farmer 
                networks, connect farmers with mentors or group 
                learning opportunities, and support goal setting to 
                increase long-term adoption of consistent, science-
                based, site-specific practices designed to achieve 
                conservation objectives on land active in agricultural, 
                forestry, or related uses;
                    ``(B) to increase the provision of technical 
                assistance that meets the specific needs of, and is 
                accessible to, farmers, ranchers, and forest owners 
                using different farming models, practices, and scales; 
                and
                    ``(C) to establish and steward farmer-to-farmer 
                networks.
            ``(2) Cooperative agreements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary may enter into 
                cooperative agreements with eligible entities to carry 
                out the purposes described in paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Eligible entities.--An entity eligible to 
                enter into a cooperative agreement with the Secretary 
                under subparagraph (A) is--
                            ``(i) a nonprofit entity described in 
                        section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code 
                        of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 
                        501(a) of that Code;
                            ``(ii) a farmer-to-farmer network;
                            ``(iii) an Indian Tribe or a Tribal 
                        organization (as those terms are defined in 
                        section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 
                        Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304));
                            ``(iv) a unit of local government 
                        (including a conservation district and a 
                        conservation district association);
                            ``(v) an institution of higher education;
                            ``(vi) a State; and
                            ``(vii) any other entity designated by the 
                        Secretary.
                    ``(C) Prioritization.--In selecting eligible 
                entities with which to enter into cooperative 
                agreements under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 
                give priority to eligible entities that seek to meet 
                the specific needs of, and are accessible to--
                            ``(i) historically underserved farmers, 
                        ranchers, and forest owners, including--
                                    ``(I) beginning farmers and 
                                ranchers (as defined in section 2501(a) 
                                of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, 
                                and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
                                2279(a))) and beginning forest owners;
                                    ``(II) veteran farmers and ranchers 
                                (as defined in section 2501(a) of the 
                                Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and 
                                Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(a))) 
                                and veteran forest owners;
                                    ``(III) socially disadvantaged 
                                farmers and ranchers (as defined in 
                                section 2501(a) of the Food, 
                                Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade 
                                Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(a))) and 
                                socially disadvantaged forest owners; 
                                and
                                    ``(IV) limited-resource farmers, 
                                ranchers, and forest owners; or
                            ``(ii) farmers, ranchers, and forest owners 
                        operating in high-poverty areas.
            ``(3) Responsibilities of providers of assistance to 
        farmer-to-farmer networks.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If an eligible entity provides 
                assistance to establish a farmer-to-farmer network 
                using assistance provided through a cooperative 
                agreement under paragraph (2), the eligible entity 
                shall be responsible for not less than 2 of the 
                following actions:
                            ``(i) Facilitating and increasing farmer 
                        access to farmer-to-farmer networks.
                            ``(ii) Facilitating mentor and mentee 
                        matchmaking among farmers.
                            ``(iii) Coordinating training and resources 
                        to build the skills of farmer-to-farmer network 
                        leaders and participants for effective 
                        education, grassroots-based learning, and 
                        cross-training with respect to the facilitation 
                        of, information about, and other skills with 
                        respect to building effective farmer-to-farmer 
                        networks.
                            ``(iv) Maintaining and promulgating a list 
                        of relevant entities, associations, and 
                        individuals that are supporting, or have an 
                        interest in supporting, farmer-to-farmer 
                        networks.
                            ``(v) Administering subawards to increase 
                        farmer access to farmer-to-farmer assistance in 
                        accordance with paragraph (4).
                            ``(vi) Other actions determined appropriate 
                        by the Secretary.
                    ``(B) Language assistance.--If an eligible entity 
                provides assistance described in subparagraph (A) to a 
                non-English speaking farmer, rancher, or forest owner, 
                the eligible entity shall, to the greatest extent 
                practicable, provide that assistance in the native 
                language of the farmer, rancher, or forest owner.
            ``(4) Subawards.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If an eligible entity awards a 
                subaward pursuant to paragraph (3)(A)(v) to an eligible 
                subawardee described in subparagraph (B), the eligible 
                subawardee shall use that award--
                            ``(i) to plan and conduct events, and 
                        identify and develop innovative activities, to 
                        support building capacity for farmer-to-farmer 
                        networks, connecting farmers with mentors or 
                        group learning opportunities, and supporting 
                        goal setting to increase long-term adoption of 
                        consistent, science-based, site-specific 
                        conservation objectives on land active in 
                        agricultural, forestry, or related uses; and
                            ``(ii) to compensate participants in the 
                        events and activities described in clause (i) 
                        at market rates.
                    ``(B) Eligible subawardees.--An entity eligible for 
                a subaward under paragraph (3)(A)(v) is--
                            ``(i) a nonprofit entity described in 
                        section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code 
                        of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 
                        501(a) of that Code;
                            ``(ii) a farmer-to-farmer network;
                            ``(iii) an Indian Tribe or a Tribal 
                        organization (as those terms are defined in 
                        section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 
                        Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304));
                            ``(iv) a unit of local government 
                        (including a conservation district and a 
                        conservation district association);
                            ``(v) an institution of higher education;
                            ``(vi) an individual; and
                            ``(vii) any other entity designated by the 
                        Secretary.
                    ``(C) Requirements.--The Secretary, in conjunction 
                with the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation 
                Service, shall establish any necessary additional 
                requirements for subawards under paragraph 
                (3)(A)(v).''.
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