← Back to Bill Feed
FederalIn Committee
Office of Small Farms Establishment Act of 2026
Introduced Feb 12, 2026 · Last action Mar 20, 2026 — Referred to the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit.
Track this bill
Save bills and get alerts when status changes.
Sign in to saved bills.
Summary
This legislation is called the Office of Small Farms Establishment Act of 2026. Referred to the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit.
Full bill text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7562 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7562
To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to
establish an Office of Small Farms, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 12, 2026
Ms. Strickland (for herself, Ms. Adams, and Mr. McGovern) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to
establish an Office of Small Farms, 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 ``Office of Small Farms Establishment
Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF SMALL FARMS.
(a) In General.--Subtitle B of the Department of Agriculture
Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6931 et seq.) is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``SEC. 229. OFFICE OF SMALL FARMS.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Small farm, ranch, or forest operation.--The term
`small farm, ranch, or forest operation' means a farm, ranch,
or forest operation that--
``(A)(i) is less than 180 acres; or
``(ii) meets another acreage-based definition of
`small', as determined by the Secretary, that takes
into consideration--
``(I) the State or region in which the
farm, ranch, or forest operation is located;
``(II) the production system of the farm,
ranch, or forest operation; or
``(III) both; and
``(B) has an annual gross cash farm income of less
than $350,000.
``(2) State office.--The term `State office' means--
``(A) a State office of--
``(i) the Farm Service Agency;
``(ii) the Natural Resources Conservation
Service; or
``(iii) the rural development mission area;
or
``(B) a regional office of the Risk Management
Agency.
``(b) Establishment.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish within the
farm production and conservation mission area the Office of
Small Farms.
``(2) Director.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall appoint a
Director of the Office of Small Farms (referred to in
this section as the `Director').
``(B) Fpac.--A senior official within the farm
production and conservation mission area may be
appointed to serve as the Director.
``(c) Duties.--The Director shall--
``(1) coordinate efforts to improve support for small
farms, ranches, and forest operations across all Department
agencies and offices;
``(2) review Department programs and policies and identify
statutory, regulatory, and administrative provisions, policies,
and guidance that disadvantage small farm, ranch, or forest
operation participation, and recommend changes to ensure that
those programs and policies adequately serve small farms,
ranches, and forest operations;
``(3) develop recommendations for new initiatives,
including financing mechanisms and technical assistance
opportunities, to specifically serve small farms, ranches, and
forest operations relating to production, conservation,
business planning, land access, and other issues, as determined
by the Secretary;
``(4) make recommendations to Department agencies and
offices and other Federal agencies on tracking small farm,
ranch, or forest operation data, including demographics and
program participation rates;
``(5) propose research agendas on topics that are of
special interest to small farms, ranches, and forest
operations;
``(6) provide or coordinate technical assistance through
the Department or through cooperative agreements with other
entities to operators of small farms, ranches, and forest
operations to assist those operators--
``(A) to access the full complement of available
Department grant, cost-share, and loan programs;
``(B) to implement activities using assistance
received under those programs; and
``(C) with farmland preservation, including through
succession planning;
``(7) implement a program directly or through cooperative
agreements with other entities to provide grants of not more
than $25,000 to operators of small farms, ranches, and forest
operations for--
``(A) equipment and infrastructure repairs and
upgrades;
``(B) uninsured losses;
``(C) business planning and market development
assistance;
``(D) conservation practice adoption;
``(E) down payments for land acquisition; and
``(F) such other purposes as the Secretary
determines to be appropriate;
``(8) operate a hotline through which operators of small
farms, ranches, and forest operations can anonymously report
problems that the operators encounter in attempts to access
Department programs;
``(9) collaborate with other Federal and State agencies on
how to effectively reach and serve small farms, ranches, and
forest operations; and
``(10) determine whether to approve a plan submitted by a
State small farms coordinator under subsection (e)(3)(A)(ii).
``(d) Liaisons.--
``(1) Appointment.--The following officials shall appoint,
from among the officers and employees under the respective
official, a liaison to the Office of Small Farms:
``(A) The Chief of the Natural Resources
Conservation Service.
``(B) The Administrator of the Farm Service Agency.
``(C) The Administrator of the Risk Management
Agency.
``(D) The Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural
Development.
``(E) The Director of the National Institute of
Food and Agriculture.
``(F) The Administrator of the Agricultural
Marketing Service.
``(G) The Administrator of the Economic Research
Service.
``(H) The Administrator of the National
Agricultural Statistics Service.
``(I) The Director of the Office of Partnerships
and Public Engagement.
``(J) The heads of such other agencies, offices,
and advisory groups as the Secretary determines to be
appropriate, including--
``(i) the Office of Urban Agriculture and
Innovative Production; and
``(ii) the Office of Tribal Relations.
``(2) Duties.--Each liaison appointed under paragraph (1)
shall--
``(A) coordinate with the Office of Small Farms and
the other liaisons appointed under that paragraph to
develop and implement new strategies for outreach to
and education for small farms, ranches, and forest
operations; and
``(B) coordinate within the agency, office, mission
area, or advisory group of the liaison on issues and
outreach relating to small farms, ranches, and forest
operations.
``(e) State Small Farms Coordinators.--
``(1) In general.--
``(A) Designation.--
``(i) In general.--The Director, in
consultation with State food and agriculture
councils and directors of State offices, shall
designate in each State a State small farms
coordinator from among the employees of State
offices.
``(ii) Employees.--The employee of a State
office designated to be a State small farms
coordinator may be the same employee designated
to be the State beginning farmer and rancher
coordinator under section 7404(c) of the Farm
Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7
U.S.C. 6934a(c)).
``(B) Requirements.--To be designated as a State
small farms coordinator, an employee shall--
``(i) be familiar with issues relating to
small farms, ranches, and forest operations;
and
``(ii) have the ability to coordinate with
other Federal departments and agencies.
``(2) Training.--The Secretary shall develop a training
plan to provide to each State small farms coordinator knowledge
of programs and services available from the Department for
small farms, ranches, and forest operations, taking into
consideration the needs of all types of production methods.
``(3) Duties.--
``(A) In general.--A State small farms
coordinator--
``(i) shall coordinate technical assistance
at the State level to assist small farms,
ranches, and forest operations in accessing
programs of the Department;
``(ii) shall develop and submit to the
Director for approval a State plan to improve
the coordination, delivery, and efficacy of
programs of the Department to small farms,
ranches, and forest operations, taking into
consideration the needs of all types of
production methods, at each county and area
office in the State;
``(iii) shall oversee implementation of an
approved State plan described in clause (ii);
``(iv) may facilitate interagency and
interdepartmental collaboration on issues
relating to small farms, ranches, and forest
operations at the State or regional level;
``(v) shall work with outreach coordinators
in the State offices to ensure appropriate
information about technical assistance is
available at outreach events and activities;
``(vi) shall coordinate partnerships and
joint outreach efforts with other organizations
and government agencies serving small farms,
ranches, and forest operations; and
``(vii) may provide grants under subsection
(c)(7), in accordance with criteria established
by the Director.
``(B) Individual duties.--Not less than 50 percent
of the duties of an employee designated to be a State
small farms coordinator shall be the duties described
in subparagraph (A) or other duties relating to small
farms, ranches, and forest operations.
``(f) Report to Congress.--Annually, the Secretary shall submit to
the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a
report describing--
``(1) the efforts of the Secretary to enhance participation
by small farms, ranches, and forest operations in agricultural
programs; and
``(2) the results achieved to enhance such participation
for each such agricultural program.
``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated--
``(1) $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through
2031 for the administration of the Office of Small Farms; and
``(2) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through
2031 to provide technical assistance and grants authorized by
this section.''.
(b) Technical Amendment.--The Department of Agriculture
Reorganization Act of 1994 is amended by redesignating the first
section 225 (7 U.S.C. 6925) (relating to the Food Access Liaison) as
section 224A.
(c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 296(b) of the Department of
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(11) The authority of the Secretary to carry out section
229.''.
<all>Official legislative text sourced from the public record (cached on CivicsHQ).
Official source
View the original bill, actions, and full legislative record on Congress.gov.
Status
In Committee
- 1Introduced
- 2Committee
- 3Floor
- 4Passed
- 5Signed
Timeline reflects current normalized status only. Full action history is not yet stored in the API.
Sponsors
Votes
Voting records are not yet available for this bill.