HR 4865
Advancing Research on Agricultural Soil Health Act of 2025
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Bill overview
This bill, the Advancing Research on Agricultural Soil Health Act of 2025, directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a standardized methodology for measuring soil carbon, provide technical assistance to producers for voluntary reporting, and support research into soil carbon sequestration. It also aims to improve soil health through demonstration trials and establishes a program to inventory and analyze soil carbon changes across the United States. Finally, the bill seeks to develop a predictive modeling tool to assess the impact of land management practices on atmospheric carbon and methane emissions.
Key provisions
- Develops a standardized methodology for directly measuring soil carbon.
- Provides technical assistance to producers for voluntary soil carbon data measurement and reporting.
- Supports conservation innovation grants and other agricultural research programs related to soil health.
- Establishes a program to inventory and analyze soil carbon changes across eligible land.
- Updates the measurement methodology and guidance as needed to reflect the best available science.
- Authorizes appropriations for the program's implementation.
- Modifies the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act to prioritize research on soil carbon sequestration.
- Requires the development of a predictive modeling tool to assess the impact of land management practices on atmospheric carbon and methane emissions.
Who is affected
- Agricultural producers (including socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers)
Sponsors
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119th CONGRESS — 1st Session
H. R. 4865
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct research relating to measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification of soil carbon sequestration, and for other purposes.
This Act may be cited as the Advancing Research on Agricultural Soil Health Act of 2025
.
Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture (in this Act referred to as the Secretary
) shall develop a standardized methodology to directly measure soil carbon for research and conservation purposes.
In developing the methodology under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall conduct a review of widely used existing methodologies for direct soil carbon measurement.
In developing the methodology under paragraph (1) and conducting the review under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall consult with—
agricultural producers, including socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (as defined in section 355(e) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2003(e)));
soil carbon experts;
nonprofit organizations;
academic researchers; and
other stakeholders who reflect the operational, geographic, and socioeconomic diversity of United States agricultural operations.
The methodology developed under paragraph (1) shall, to the maximum extent practicable—
be usable at any location at which soil carbon can be directly measured;
require measurement to a standard soil depth appropriate for the sample site, determined using the best available science;
produce data that is interoperable with other data collected by the Department of Agriculture;
account for calibration differences in soil analysis between testing facilities;
account for differences in uncertainty between different measurement tools; and
be usable for voluntary reporting of soil carbon data under subsection (b).
Guidance provided under subparagraph (A) shall be, at a minimum—
available in multiple languages; and
available to producers described in paragraph (2) in both digital and analog formats.
any other producer that elects to voluntarily report to the Secretary direct measurements of soil carbon.
The programs referred to in paragraph (2)(A) include—
conservation innovation grants under section 1240H of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–8);
the sustainable agriculture research and education program under subtitle B of title XVI of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5801 et seq.);
the organic agriculture research and extension initiative established under section 1672B of that Act (7 U.S.C. 5925b);
grants under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative under section 2(b) of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 3157(b)); and
such other programs as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $2,000,000 for each fiscal year.
Subsection (b)(2)(D) of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 3157(b)(2)(D)) is amended—
in clause (vii), by striking and
at the end;
in clause (viii), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and
; and
by adding at the end the following:
measuring, monitoring, reporting, and verifying soil carbon sequestration and emissions.
Section 1240H(c) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–8(c)) is amended—
in paragraph (1)(B)(i), by striking subclause (III) and inserting the following:
soil health management systems, including—
systems to maintain or increase soil carbon levels; and
cost-effective tools to measure, monitor, report, and verify greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration;
in paragraph (3)(D), by striking 3 years
each place it appears and inserting 5 years
.
Section 1621(e) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5811(e)) is amended—
by striking The Secretary
and inserting the following:
The Secretary
by adding at the end the following:
In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall conduct on-farm demonstration projects for soil carbon sequestration.
Chapter 5 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 is amended by inserting after section 1240M (16 U.S.C. 3839bb) the following:
In this section:
The term conservation activities has the meaning given the term in section 1240I.
The term eligible land means public and private cropland, rangeland, pastureland, and wetlands in the United States.
The term program means the program established under subsection (b)(1).
The term regional resource area means a contiguous area of eligible land that has similar resource characteristics.
The term resource characteristics means—
The term Secretary means the Secretary, acting jointly through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Administrator of the Agricultural Research Service.
The Secretary shall establish a program to inventory, monitor, and analyze soil carbon changes on eligible land in the United States.
The purposes of the program are—
to analyze soil properties, including soil organic carbon, across space, time, and depth;
to analyze the impacts of land management strategies, including conservation activities, on soil carbon sequestration; and
to inform any tools of the Secretary designed to predict the impacts of different land management practices, including implementing conservation activities, on soil carbon and associated environmental outcomes, such as resilience to extreme weather, reduced farm inputs, or other environment impacts, as determined by the Secretary, across the United States.
In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall consult with the Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Chief of the Forest Service, the Chief Data Officer, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Energy, and the head of any other department or agency that the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
The Secretary shall select sample sites under the program by taking into consideration—
In selecting sample sites under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give preference to sites that have been used for soil testing previously.
The Secretary shall select sufficient sample sites under paragraph (1) to analyze changes in soil carbon across regional resource areas, as determined by the Secretary, over time, taking into account the geographical size and heterogeneity of each regional resource area.
Every 5 years, the Secretary shall prepare an inventory of soil carbon stocks on eligible land, under which the Secretary shall collect measurements at each sample site selected under subsection (c).
The Secretary shall ensure that the methodology developed under section 3(a) of the
Advancing Research on Agricultural Soil Health Act of 2025
is used for purposes of conducting measurements at each sample site under the program.In preparing the inventory under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall document the following characteristics for each sample site selected under subsection (c):
Soil type and texture.
Land use history, including conservation activities.
Environmental characteristics, such as temperature and precipitation.
Other characteristics, as determined by the Secretary.
Before selecting a sample site under subsection (c) or conducting any measurement under subsection (d)(1), the Secretary shall obtain authorization from the owner of the eligible land.
The Secretary may not require authorization under paragraph (1) or any other participation in any activity under this section as a condition on receipt of any benefit under a program administered by the Secretary.
The inventory described in paragraph (1) may be operated in partnership with 1 or more of the following entities, if the entity complies with paragraph (4):
An 1862 Institution (as defined in section 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601)).
An 1890 Institution (as defined in that section).
A 1994 Institution (as defined in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note; Public Law 103–382)).
Institutions of higher education with expertise in predictive modeling, large-scale data collection, soil carbon research, or agricultural conservation management practices.
Federal research centers.
The inventory described in paragraph (1) shall—
ensure that individual producer information is not sold through the inventory; and
comply with all applicable privacy requirements, including—
section 1770 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 2276);
section 1619 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8791);
section 502(c) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1502(c)); and
section 552 of title 5, United States Code.
The Secretary may release or disclose information maintained in the inventory described in paragraph (1) pursuant to section 1619(b)(3)(A)(i) of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8791(b)(3)(A)(i)) to researchers for the purposes of statistically analyzing the information.
On completion of each inventory under subsection (d)(1), the Secretary shall make publicly available—
the statistical or aggregated form of data collected from measurements under that subsection;
any analysis made of the measurements described in paragraph (1).
On completion of each inventory under subsection (d)(1), the Secretary shall prepare, publish, and make available to the public a report that—
contains a description of soil carbon trends, including by incorporating measurements conducted under subsection (d) during the 5 years covered by the report;
contains an analysis of the impact of different land management practices, including implementing 1 or more conservation activities, on soil carbon levels;
contains an analysis of the effect of short- and long-term weather variability on the observed trends;
contains an analysis of how land management practices, including conservation activities, that influence soil carbon sequestration may affect the rate of increase in atmospheric carbon and other gases in the agricultural sector, including methane and nitrous oxide; and
establishes a benchmark for the baseline soil carbon absent additional conservation activities.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the
Advancing Research on Agricultural Soil Health Act of 2025
, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress a strategic plan to implement and carry out this section, which shall describe in detail—the organization and procedures necessary to implement and carry out this section; and
the plan for measurements in each regional resource area under subsection (d)(1) for the first 5-year interval, including the schedule and the number of samples collected from each sample site selected under subsection (c).
In developing the modeling tool or tools under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with—
the Secretary of Energy;
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
agricultural producers, including socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (as defined in section 355(e) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2003(e)));
soil carbon experts;
nonprofit organizations;
academic researchers;
private companies with expertise in soil carbon sequestration or in atmospheric carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide monitoring for agricultural operations; and
other stakeholders, including the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies or non-Federal entities, who reflect the operational, geographic, and socioeconomic diversity of United States agricultural operations.
The modeling tool or tools described in subsection (a) shall—
be anchored in direct measurements of land, including soil sampling, such as under the program established under section 1240N of the Food Security Act of 1985 and the programs described in section 3(b)(3);
account for differences that could impact land management outcomes, including—
soil type;
type of land use;
geography and local long-term weather patterns;
geographic size of the land-use operation;
ongoing or existing conservation activities; and
such other items as the Secretary determines to be appropriate;
allow a user of the tool to estimate the changes in atmospheric carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide or soil carbon sequestration, and the uncertainty of those estimated changes, that occur as a result of implementing 1 or more conservation activities; and
be user-friendly and accessible—
If it is determined that an update is required under paragraph (1), the update shall be made not later than 1 year after the date of that determination.
an Institution described in paragraph (2);
an institution of higher education with expertise in predictive modeling, large-scale data collection, soil carbon research, or agricultural conservation management; or
a Federal research center.
An Institution referred to in paragraph (1)(A) is any of the following:
An 1862 Institution (as defined in section 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601)).
An 1890 Institution (as defined in that section).
A 1994 Institution (as defined in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note; Public Law 103–382)).
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that—
describes the progress of the Secretary in developing the modeling tool or tools under subsection (a);
contains an assessment of the accuracy with which a user will be able to use the tool to determine the permanence and additionality of atmospheric carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide reduced or carbon sequestered;
describes the models and survey and analysis information that the Secretary has developed or collected, or intends to develop or collect, as applicable, for purposes of developing or maintaining the tool;
if an update was required, the specifics of the update; and
includes any other information that, as determined by the Secretary, is relevant to—
the efficacy of the tool;
the intended applications of the tool; or
the determination of—
changes in atmospheric carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide or soil carbon sequestration associated with producer land-use practices; or
estimates of the impacts of land use practices, including conservation activities, on atmospheric carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide and soil carbon sequestration; and
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $500,000 for each fiscal year.