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
D Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008
I Agricultural security
II Miscellaneous provisions
E Other Matters
VIII Forestry
A Forest data modernization
(a) In general. Section 3(e) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1642(e)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)—
(A) by striking their resources and inserting the resources of those forests, including forest carbon,;
(B) by striking In compliance and inserting the following:
(A) In general. In compliance
; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
(B) Additional methods. Under the program under this subsection, the Secretary shall carry out, as a data collection method—
(i) a national timber products output survey; and
(ii) a national woodland owner survey.
(2) in paragraph (3)(C), by inserting including with respect to available forest carbon data, after 2 decades,;
(3) in paragraph (4)—
(A) in the second sentence, by striking The standards and inserting the following:
(B) Inclusions. The standards described in subparagraph (A)
(B) by striking (4) National standards and definitions.—To ensure and inserting the following:
(4) National consistency
(A) Standards and definitions. To ensure
; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
(C) Terminology. The Secretary shall include a clear description of the definition of forest used for purposes of reporting data from inventories and analyses of forests and the resources of forests under this subsection with—
(i) any data or report provided under the program under this subsection;
(ii) Renewable Resource Assessments prepared under section 3(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601(a)); and
(iii) any data or report provided to an entity outside the United States.
(4) in paragraph (6)—
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, and inserting In accordance with paragraph (7),;
(B) in subparagraph (E), by striking and at the end;
(C) in subparagraph (F), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
(G) the organization and procedures necessary to understand and report on changes in land cover and use; and
(H) the organization and procedures necessary to evaluate carbon-related data variables, including soil carbon, collected from forest inventory and analysis plots, timber products output studies, and national woodland owner surveys to ensure that carbon accounting information needs can be met.
; and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
(7) Updates to strategic plan
(A) In general. Not later than 90 days after the date on which the blue ribbon panel submits the report under subsection (f)(3)(C), the Secretary shall prepare an update to the strategic plan under paragraph (6) to include—
(i) a plan to implement nationally consistent data collection protocols and procedures to improve the statistical precision of base program estimates;
(ii) pathways to integrate and report on status and trends in forest carbon pools, including below-ground carbon;
(iii) plans, including the identification of challenges, to collaborate with other Federal agencies, non-Federal partners, and the private sector to integrate existing nationally available data sets and best available commercial technologies, such as remote sensing, spatial analysis techniques, and other new technologies;
(iv) a plan to increase transparency and clarity in reporting in accordance with paragraph (4)(C);
(v) a plan to expand current data collection, further integrate remote sensing technology, or both, to include procedures to improve the statistical precision of estimates at the sub-State level;
(vi) a plan to expand current data collection, further integrate remote sensing technology, or both, to include information on renewable biomass supplies and carbon stocks at the local, State, regional, and national levels, including by ownership type; and
(vii) such other matters as the Secretary determines to be appropriate based on recommendations of the Forest Inventory and Analysis National User Group.
(B) Submission. Not later than 180 days after the date on which the blue ribbon panel submits the report under subsection (f)(3)(C), the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations and Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committees on Appropriations and Agriculture of the House of Representatives the update to the strategic plan prepared under subparagraph (A).
(C) Further updates. Not later than 5 years after the date on which the update is submitted under subparagraph (B), and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary shall—
(i) prepare an additional update to the strategic plan; and
(ii) submit the additional update to the committees described in subparagraph (B).
(8) Accessibility. The Secretary shall ensure that data collected under this subsection is—
(A) presented in a manner that is easily accessible to the general public and technical experts, including through tools to deliver smaller area estimates; and
(B) collected and made accessible using means that ensure the confidentiality, in accordance with section 1770 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 2276), of—
(i) plot locations;
(ii) nonaggregated data of woodland owners; and
(iii) nonaggregated data from the timber products output survey carried out under paragraph (1)(B)(i).
(9) Biennial compilations. Biennially, the Secretary shall prepare and make publicly available a compilation of national forest inventory and analysis forest statistics, which shall be similar to the tables contained in the Renewable Resource Assessments prepared under section 3(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1601(a)) and accompanied by relevant geospatial products.
(10) Reports. Each year, the Secretary shall publish as part of the forest inventory and analysis business report a detailed description of the progress of the Secretary in implementing the programmatic elements of the strategic plan described in paragraph (6), including—
(A) the costs and priorities of the strategic plan; and
(B) how the program under this subsection leverages new technology, improves and standardizes collection protocols, and increases workforce capacity.
(b) Technical amendment. Section 2(c) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1641(c)) is amended by inserting of Agriculture (referred to in this Act as the Secretary) after the Secretary.
(c) Remote sensing technologies. Section 8632(1) of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (16 U.S.C. 1642 note; Public Law 115–334) is amended by striking technologies and inserting technologies, such as microwave, LiDAR, hyperspectral, and high-resolution remote sensing data, and advanced computing technologies including machine learning and other advanced approaches for improved modeling to provide tabular statistical estimates and geospatial products,.
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