What This Bill Does
This bill requires the Secretary of Agriculture to study why farmers and ranchers who rent land have difficulty adopting conservation practices (methods that protect soil, water and wildlife). The bill asks the Secretary to explore what barriers exist and then report back to Congress with recommendations to address those barriers.
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Who It Affects
- The Secretary of Agriculture (through the National Agricultural Statistics Service)
- Farmers and ranchers who rent agricultural land
- Landowners who lease out agricultural land
- Beginning farmers and ranchers
- Farmers and ranchers who are people of color, including Black and Indigenous farmers and ranchers
- Congress
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Key Provisions
- The Secretary must conduct a study examining barriers to conservation practice adoption on leased agricultural land and must work with the Economic Research Service in this effort. (Sec. 3(a) and 3(b))
- The study must review existing research, examine different types of land leasing agreements, research Federal and state conservation incentives, and study what happens to conservation practices when new tenants take over land. (Sec. 3(c))
- The Secretary must pay special attention to farmers and ranchers of color, including Black and Indigenous farmers and ranchers, and beginning farmers and ranchers. (Sec. 3(d))
- By December 31, 2024, the Secretary must submit a report to Congress that includes study results and recommendations for addressing barriers, including recommendations that can be done under existing law and recommendations requiring new congressional authority. (Sec. 3(e))
- The Secretary may hire a nonprofit organization or university to help carry out the study. (Sec. 3(f))
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What Changes
If this bill becomes law, the federal government will officially study why farmers who rent land participate less in conservation programs. The government will then provide Congress with a detailed report explaining the barriers and suggesting solutions. Currently, no such comprehensive study exists that focuses specifically on leased land.
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Important Definitions
- Leased agricultural land: Agricultural land that a farmer or rancher operates under a lease or rental agreement but does not own. (Sec. 3(g)(1))
- Secretary: The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the National Agricultural Statistics Service. (Sec. 3(g)(2))
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Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 707
To require a study of the barriers to conservation practice adoption on
leased agricultural land, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 1, 2023
Ms. BROWNLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To require a study of the barriers to conservation practice
adoption on leased agricultural land, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Conservation for Agri-
4
cultural Leased Land Act’’ or the ‘‘CALL Act’’.
5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
6
Congress finds the following:
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(1) According to a 2016 study by the Economic
8
Research Service of the Department of Agriculture,
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39 percent of agricultural land in the United States
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•HR 707 IH
is leased, including the majority (53 percent) of
1
cropland.
2
(2) The participation of landowners and tenants
3
in Federal, State, and local conservation programs,
4
and the adoption of conservation practices on land
5
that they own or manage, can be limited by a wide
6
range of factors that are not fully understood.
7
(3) Much of the limited information that is
8
known comes from the Tenure, Ownership, and
9
Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) Survey
10
conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics
11
Service, in collaboration with the Economic Research
12
Service; regularly recurring data collection through
13
the TOTAL Survey and other Department of Agri-
14
culture reports is vital to understanding land tenure
15
trends, challenges, and opportunities.
16
(4) Some of the potential barriers to such par-
17
ticipation and adoption include the structure or term
18
of the lease or rental agreement, the level of inde-
19
pendence given to the operator, the awareness of the
20
landowner of both conservation practice and pro-
21
gram opportunities and the costs and benefits asso-
22
ciated with those opportunities, and other policy or
23
market factors.
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•HR 707 IH
(5) The solutions to these issues are unlikely to
1
be ‘‘one size fits all’’ and must be better understood.
2
SEC. 3. STUDY.
3
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a
4
study of the participation in conservation programs of,
5
and the adoption of conservation practices on, leased agri-
6
cultural land.
7
(b) COLLABORATION.—The study under this section
8
shall be carried out in collaboration with the Economic
9
Research Service.
10
(c) CONTENTS.—The study carried out under this
11
section shall include—
12
(1) a review of relevant existing research lit-
13
erature, including—
14
(A) the Tenure, Ownership, and Transition
15
of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) Survey con-
16
ducted by the National Agricultural Statistics
17
Service, in collaboration with the Economic Re-
18
search Service; and
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(B) the report titled ‘‘Understanding and
20
Activating Non-Operating Landlords’’, pub-
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lished by the American Farmland Trust in Sep-
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tember, 2020;
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•HR 707 IH
(2) a review of initiatives conducted by the Co-
1
operative Extension System to increase the adoption
2
of conservation practices on leased agricultural land;
3
(3) identification and quantification of the var-
4
ious types and structures of current agricultural
5
land leasing relationships;
6
(4) research on the history, and estimation of
7
future trends, of agricultural land ownership;
8
(5) examination of what leasing models have
9
been effective in encouraging the adoption of con-
10
servation practices;
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(6) consideration of regional variations;
12
(7) examination of existing Federal incentives
13
for adopting conservation practices, and the degree
14
to which such incentives are currently utilized with
15
respect to leased agricultural lands;
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(8) research on State and local incentive pro-
17
grams that are encouraging conservation practice
18
adoption on leased agricultural land;
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(9) research on the benefits of transitioning
20
from land leasing to land ownership on conservation
21
practice adoption and Federal conservation program
22
participation;
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•HR 707 IH
(10) examination of the effects of competition
1
in cash rents on the adoption of conservation prac-
2
tices on leased agricultural lands;
3
(11) examination of what happens to conserva-
4
tion practices currently underway on leased agricul-
5
tural land when new tenants take over such land;
6
and
7
(12) research on how the Department of Agri-
8
culture communicates regarding conservation prac-
9
tice adoption to farmers and ranchers who do not
10
own the land they operate and to landowners who
11
lease out their agricultural land.
12
(d) CONSIDERATION.—The study under this section
13
shall be carried out with particular consideration of farm-
14
ers and ranchers who are people of color, including Black
15
and indigenous farmers and ranchers, and beginning
16
farmers and ranchers.
17
(e) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 2024, the
18
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report containing—
19
(1) the results of the study conducted under
20
this section; and
21
(2) recommendations, based on such study, for
22
addressing the barriers unique to various agricul-
23
tural land leasing relationships to adopting conserva-
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•HR 707 IH
tion practices on leased agricultural land, includ-
1
ing—
2
(A) recommendations that can be imple-
3
mented under existing statutory authorities;
4
(B) recommendations that would require
5
congressional authorization in order to be im-
6
plemented; and
7
(C) recommendations for outreach.
8
(f) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary may enter
9
into an agreement with a non-Federal entity (such as a
10
nonprofit entity or university), selected through an appli-
11
cation process, to carry out this section.
12
(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
13
(1) LEASED AGRICULTURAL LAND.—The term
14
‘‘leased agricultural land’’ means agricultural land
15
that is operated, under a lease or other rental agree-
16
ment, by a farmer or rancher who does not own the
17
land.
18
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
19
the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Na-
20
tional Agricultural Statistics Service.
21
Æ
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