S. 5526
Agricultural Act of 2026
Sponsor: John Boozman · 0 cosponsors
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Text of the bill
I Commodities
A Commodity Policy
B Dairy
C Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance
D Administration
II Conservation
A Conservation Reserve Program
B Environmental Quality Incentives Program
C Conservation Stewardship Program
D Funding and administration
E Agricultural Conservation Easement Program
F Regional Conservation Partnership Program
G Forest Conservation Easement Program
H Other Conservation programs
III Trade
A Food for Peace Act
B Agricultural Trade Act of 1978
C Other agricultural trade laws
D Reports
IV Nutrition
A Supplemental nutrition assistance program
B Commodity distribution programs
C Miscellaneous
V Credit
A Farm Credit System
B Farm ownership and operating loans
C Administrative provisions
VI Rural Development
A Rural Electrification Act of 1936
I Rural broadband access
II Additional amendments
B Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act
C Miscellaneous
I Rural care economy
II Other miscellaneous provisions
VII Research, Extension, and Related Matters
A National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977
B Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990
C Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998
Title IV of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 is amended by inserting before section 404 (7 U.S.C. 7624) the following:
403. National biochar research network
(a) Establishment. Subject to the availability of funds, the Secretary shall establish a national biochar research network (referred to in this section as the research network).
(b) Scope
(1) In general. The research network shall encompass—
(A) agriculture, horticulture, and other biochar uses; and
(B) a broad range of feedstocks, production processes, and application treatments, including—
(i) common biochar types with common characteristics tested across sites; and
(ii) promising locally produced biochar.
(2) Research. The research conducted by the research network shall include—
(A) cross-site and mechanistic experiments at not more than 20 research sites or facilities described in subsection (c) to test common biochar types with common characteristics, and promising locally produced biochars, across soil types, soil health and soil management conditions, application methods, and agronomic and climate regions—
(i) to fill critical knowledge gaps and gain a more complete understanding of the impact of various types and characteristics of biochar in varying site conditions on soil properties, plant growth, soil emissions, and soil carbon in different soils, climates, and other natural and agronomic conditions;
(ii) to generate data to develop, calibrate, and validate robust mechanistic models to predict the full life cycle of greenhouse gas, crop response, and related agronomic and environmental implications of particular applications of biochar;
(iii) to generate data to help guide the design of new, more efficient biochar and bioenergy production reactors and biorefineries that produce biochar with the needed characteristics to serve specific soil and crop improvement objectives; and
(iv) to generate data to develop, calibrate, validate, and standardize testing methodologies for biochar to identify potential contaminants or other factors that may cause unintended consequences; and
(B) site-specific farm and forestry systems assessments and pilot-scale biochar production and application systems—
(i) to refine the most promising soil-based uses, sources, and methods of producing and applying biochar in particular regions—
(I) to enhance productivity;
(II) to increase profitability, scalability, and portability;
(III) to increase soil carbon;
(IV) to improve ecosystem and soil health;
(V) to strengthen resilience to extreme weather events; and
(VI) to explore soil, crop, climate, management, and biochar interactions;
(ii) to develop new knowledge to support decisions on sustainable production and use of biochar;
(iii) to collect relevant data needed for full life cycle greenhouse gas and economic analyses and complete those analyses;
(iv) to predict plant response, soil health, soil carbon sequestration, ecosystem health, water quality, and economic outcomes for specific implementations of biochar technology;
(v) to provide insights on thermochemical conversion processes in biochar production and the coproduction of biochar and bioenergy, including interactions of feedstock properties with reactor conditions and processes on the relative proportions and properties of biochar, biofuels, and value-added coproducts, as well as process efficiency;
(vi) to provide data to evaluate local biomass feedstocks, support selection of sustainable biochar production methods, and address biochar production issues;
(vii) to develop new knowledge on integration of biochar in soil health management systems; and
(viii) to share research results to inform farmers, horticulturalists, ranchers, foresters, urban biochar users, extension agents and specialists, and technical assistance providers on the most advantageous ways to use biochar to increase profitability, raise productivity, lower costs, improve soil and plant health, build soil carbon, and enhance resilience to extreme weather events.
(c) Eligibility. An entity shall be eligible to be selected to conduct research as part of the research network if the entity is—
(1) a State agricultural experiment station or a State forestry experiment station;
(2) a research facility of the Agricultural Research Service, the Forest Service, or any other agency of the Department that the Secretary determines to be appropriate; or
(3) a research facility of the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, or the Department of the Interior.
(d) Administration. The research network shall be administered by the Administrator of the Agricultural Research Service.
D Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008
I Agricultural security
II Miscellaneous provisions
E Other Matters
VIII Forestry
A Forest data modernization
B Forest health and management
I Forest Service management
II State and private partnerships
III Timber innovation
C Forest conservation
D Land designations
E White oak resilience
F Other matters
IX Energy
X Horticulture
A Horticulture marketing and information
B Regulatory reform
XI Crop insurance
XII Miscellaneous
A Livestock
B National security
C Fertilizer
D United States grain standards reauthorization
E Year-Round E15 and RFS reform
F Other miscellaneous provisions