[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4652 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4652
To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act
of 1998 to reauthorize the specialty crop research initiative and
establish a specialty crop mechanization and automation research and
development program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 2, 2026
Mr. Schiff introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act
of 1998 to reauthorize the specialty crop research initiative and
establish a specialty crop mechanization and automation research and
development program, 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 ``Advancing Automation Research and
Development in Agriculture Act''.
SEC. 2. SPECIALTY CROP RESEARCH INITIATIVE.
(a) In General.--Section 412 of the Agricultural Research,
Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7632) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (f)(3), by striking ``subsection (d) and
(j),'' and inserting ``subsections (d), (j), and (k),'';
(2) in subsection (g)--
(A) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the
following:
``(C) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the matching
funds requirement under subparagraph (A).''; and
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking ``the
Initiative'' and inserting ``this section'';
(3) by redesignating subsections (j) and (k) as subsections
(k) and (l), respectively;
(4) by inserting after subsection (i) the following:
``(j) Specialty Crop Mechanization and Automation Research and
Development Program.--
``(1) Establishment and purpose.--The Secretary shall
establish a competitive research and extension grant program to
increase the competitiveness of specialty crops in the United
States through the advancement and acceleration of
mechanization and automation, under which the Secretary awards
competitive grants to eligible entities--
``(A) to create or improve cost-effective
mechanization, automation, and other innovations and
technologies--
``(i) to reduce the manual labor
requirements of a specialty crop grower;
``(ii) to improve specialty crop farmworker
safety and health or working conditions; and
``(iii) to increase the efficiency of
specialty crop--
``(I) production;
``(II) resource management;
``(III) harvesting;
``(IV) processing;
``(V) postharvest technologies; or
``(VI) packaging;
``(B) to increase the adoption of specialty crop
mechanization, automation, and other innovations and
technologies by--
``(i) emphasizing adoption drivers, which
may include connectivity, autonomy,
reliability, durability, in-field validation,
and cost-effectiveness; or
``(ii) investing in and developing human
capital to increase the capacity of the
specialty crop sector to work with new
technologies; or
``(C) to accelerate specialty crop mechanization
and automation through--
``(i) prototype development;
``(ii) in-field trial testing;
``(iii) ongoing industry engagement; or
``(iv) rapid commercialization.
``(2) Priority.--In awarding grants under this subsection,
the Secretary shall give priority to proposals for projects
that--
``(A) address the training or retraining of
farmworkers (including to maintain adequate worker
safety) to operate, repair, program, or otherwise
maintain mechanization and automation solutions
involved in the project; and
``(B) include explicit mechanisms to communicate
the results of the project to producers and the public.
``(3) Applicability.--Subsections (a), (c) through (g),
(i), and (l) shall apply to the program established under this
subsection.'';
(5) in subsection (k) (as so redesignated), in paragraph
(5), by striking ``In addition to the amounts reserved under
subsection (k)(1)(C), there'' and inserting ``There''; and
(6) in subsection (l) (as so redesignated)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraphs (C)
and (D) and inserting the following:
``(C) Reservation.--For each of fiscal years 2026
through 2031, the Secretary shall reserve not less than
$30,000,000 of the funds made available under
subparagraph (B) to carry out the program established
under subsection (j).
``(D) Reallocation.--Notwithstanding paragraph (4),
any funds reserved under subparagraph (C) that remain
unobligated at the end of the fiscal year following the
fiscal year in which such funds are first made
available shall be reallocated to carry out the
Initiative.'';
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in the paragraph heading, by striking
``for fiscal years 2014 through 2023'';
(ii) by striking ``In addition'' and
inserting the following:
``(A) In general.--In addition''; and
(iii) in subparagraph (A) (as so
designated), by striking ``2023'' and inserting
``2031'';
(C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as subparagraph
(B) of paragraph (2) and indenting appropriately; and
(D) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as
paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 1408A of the National Agricultural Research,
Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3123a) is
amended--
(A) in subsection (a)(2)(A), by striking ``(j)(3)''
and inserting ``(k)(3)'';
(B) in subsection (c)(5), by striking ``specialty
crop research initiative'' and inserting ``programs'';
and
(C) in subsection (g), in the matter preceding
paragraph (1), by striking ``(j)'' and inserting
``(k)''.
(2) Section 251(f)(1)(D)(x) of the Department of
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C.
6971(f)(1)(D)(x)) is amended by striking ``specialty crop
research initiative under section 412 of the Agricultural
Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998'' and
inserting ``programs under section 412 of the Agricultural
Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C.
7632)''.
(3) Section 12605(c) of the Agriculture Improvement Act of
2018 (7 U.S.C. 7632 note; Public Law 115-334) is amended--
(A) by striking ``412(j)'' and inserting
``412(k)''; and
(B) by striking ``7632(j))'' and inserting
``7632(k))''.
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