What This Bill Does
This bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop voluntary standards and best practices for precision agriculture equipment and technology within 2 years. The bill aims to enhance how farmers use advanced technology to manage crops and livestock more efficiently while promoting American leadership in setting industry standards.
Who It Affects
- The Secretary of Agriculture
- The National Institute of Standards and Technology
- The Federal Communications Commission
- Precision agriculture equipment manufacturers and technology providers
- Agriculture producers and farmers
- State and local governments
- Voluntary consensus standards development organizations
Key Provisions
- The Secretary of Agriculture must develop voluntary, consensus-based interconnectivity standards, guidelines, and best practices for precision agriculture in coordination with trusted private sector stakeholders and industry organizations within 2 years of the bill's enactment (Sec. 4(a)).
- The Secretary must consider evolving demands of precision agriculture, connectivity needs, cybersecurity challenges, impacts of advanced wireless communications technology, and impacts of artificial intelligence when developing these standards (Sec. 4(b)).
- The Comptroller General of the United States must assess the developed standards 1 year after their creation, and then every 2 years for 8 years following, to determine if they are voluntary, were developed with industry coordination, and have encouraged adoption of precision agriculture (Sec. 5(a)).
- The Comptroller General must submit assessment reports to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (Sec. 5(b)).
What Changes
If this bill becomes law, the federal government will establish official voluntary standards for how precision agriculture equipment and technology work together. These standards will make it easier for farmers to adopt precision agriculture by reducing incompatibility problems between different equipment brands and technologies.
Important Definitions
- **Precision agriculture:** Managing, tracking, or reducing crop or livestock production inputs like seed, feed, fertilizer, chemicals, water, and time at a detailed geographic and time-based level to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and maintain environmental quality.
- **Precision agriculture equipment:** Any equipment or technology that reduces or improves efficiency of crop or livestock production inputs, including GPS systems, satellite imagery, sensors, soil mapping, data management software, wireless networks, and autonomous systems.
- **Advanced wireless communications technology:** Advanced technology that supports mobile 5G networks or beyond, next-generation Wi-Fi networks, or other future networks operating on licensed or unlicensed frequency bands.
- **Artificial intelligence:** Has the meaning given in section 238(g) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019.
- **Trusted:** A provider or supplier of communications equipment that the Secretary determines is not owned by, controlled by, or influenced by a foreign adversary.
- **Foreign adversary:** Any foreign government or foreign nongovernment person engaged in long-term patterns or serious instances of conduct significantly harmful to United States national security or the safety of United States persons.
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 734
To enhance the participation of precision agriculture in the United States,
and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 9, 2023
Mr. THUNE (for himself and Mr. WARNOCK) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu-
trition, and Forestry
A BILL
To enhance the participation of precision agriculture in the
United States, 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 ‘‘Promoting Precision
4
Agriculture Act of 2023’’.
5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
6
In this Act:
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(1) 3GPP.—The term ‘‘3GPP’’ means the
8
Third Generation Partnership Project.
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(2) ADVANCED
WIRELESS
COMMUNICATIONS
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TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘‘advanced wireless com-
2
munications technology’’ means advanced technology
3
that contributes to mobile (5G or beyond) networks,
4
next-generation Wi-Fi networks, or other future net-
5
works using other technologies, regardless of wheth-
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er the network is operating on an exclusive licensed,
7
shared licensed, or unlicensed frequency band.
8
(3) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.—The term ‘‘ar-
9
tificial intelligence’’ has the meaning given the term
10
in section 238(g) of the John S. McCain National
11
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019
12
(Public Law 115–232; 10 U.S.C. note prec. 4061).
13
(4) FOREIGN ADVERSARY.—The term ‘‘foreign
14
adversary’’ means any foreign government or foreign
15
nongovernment person engaged in a long-term pat-
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tern or serious instances of conduct significantly ad-
17
verse to the national security of the United States,
18
or security and safety of United States persons.
19
(5) PRECISION AGRICULTURE.—The term ‘‘pre-
20
cision agriculture’’ means managing, tracking, or re-
21
ducing crop or livestock production inputs, including
22
seed, feed, fertilizer, chemicals, water, time, and
23
such other inputs as the Secretary determines to be
24
appropriate, at a heightened level of spatial and tem-
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poral granularity to improve efficiencies, reduce
1
waste, and maintain environmental quality.
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(6) PRECISION
AGRICULTURE
EQUIPMENT.—
3
The term ‘‘precision agriculture equipment’’ means
4
any equipment or technology that directly contrib-
5
utes to a reduction in, or improved efficiency of, in-
6
puts used in crop or livestock production, includ-
7
ing—
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(A) global positioning system-based or
9
geospatial mapping;
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(B) satellite or aerial imagery;
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(C) yield monitors;
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(D) soil mapping;
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(E) sensors for gathering data on crop,
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soil, and livestock conditions;
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(F) Internet of Things and technology that
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relies on edge and cloud computing;
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(G) data management software and ad-
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vanced analytics;
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(H) network connectivity products and so-
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lutions, including public and private wireless
21
networks;
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(I) global positioning system guidance,
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auto-steer systems, autonomous fleeting, and
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other machine-to-machine operations;
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(J) variable rate technology for applying
1
inputs, such as section control; and
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(K) any other technology that leads to a
3
reduction in, or improves efficiency of, crop and
4
livestock production inputs, which may in-
5
clude—
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(i) seed;
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(ii) feed;
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(iii) fertilizer;
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(iv) chemicals;
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(v) water;
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(vi) time;
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(vii) fuel;
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(viii) emissions; and
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(ix) such other inputs as the Sec-
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retary determines to be appropriate.
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(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
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the Secretary of Agriculture.
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(8) TRUSTED.—The term ‘‘trusted’’ means,
19
with respect to a provider of advanced communica-
20
tions service or a supplier of communications equip-
21
ment or service, that the Secretary has determined
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that the provider or supplier is not owned by, con-
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trolled by, or subject to the influence of, a foreign
24
adversary.
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(9) VOLUNTARY
CONSENSUS
STANDARDS
DE-
1
VELOPMENT ORGANIZATION.—
2
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘voluntary
3
consensus standards development organization’’
4
means an organization that develops standards
5
in a process that meets the principles for the
6
development of voluntary consensus standards
7
(as defined in the document of the Office of
8
Management and Budget entitled ‘‘Federal Par-
9
ticipation in the Development and Use of Vol-
10
untary Consensus Standards and in Conformity
11
Assessment Activities’’ (OMB Circular A–119)).
12
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘voluntary
13
consensus standards development organization’’
14
includes the 3GPP, the Alliance for Tele-
15
communications Industry Solutions, the Agri-
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cultural Industry Electronics Foundation, and
17
the Global System for Mobile Communications
18
Association.
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SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
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The purposes of this Act are—
21
(1) to enhance the participation of precision ag-
22
riculture in the United States; and
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(2) to promote United States leadership in vol-
1
untary consensus standards development organiza-
2
tions that set standards for precision agriculture.
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SEC. 4. INTERCONNECTIVITY STANDARDS FOR PRECISION
4
AGRICULTURE.
5
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the
6
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta-
7
tion with the Director of the National Institute of Stand-
8
ards and Technology, shall—
9
(1) develop voluntary, consensus-based, private
10
sector-led interconnectivity standards, guidelines,
11
and best practices for precision agriculture that will
12
promote economies of scale and ease the burden of
13
the adoption of precision agriculture; and
14
(2) in carrying out paragraph (1)—
15
(A) coordinate with relevant public and
16
trusted private sector stakeholders and other
17
relevant industry organizations, including vol-
18
untary consensus standards development orga-
19
nizations; and
20
(B) consult with sector-specific agencies,
21
other appropriate agencies, and State and local
22
governments.
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(b) CONSIDERATIONS.—The Secretary, in carrying
24
out subsection (a), shall, in consultation with the Federal
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Communications Commission and the Director of the Na-
1
tional Institute of Standards and Technology, consider—
2
(1) the evolving demands of precision agri-
3
culture;
4
(2) the connectivity needs of precision agri-
5
culture equipment;
6
(3) the cybersecurity challenges facing precision
7
agriculture, including cybersecurity threats for agri-
8
culture producers and agriculture supply chains;
9
(4) the impact of advanced wireless communica-
10
tions technology on precision agriculture; and
11
(5) the impact of artificial intelligence on preci-
12
sion agriculture.
13
SEC. 5. GAO ASSESSMENT OF PRECISION AGRICULTURE
14
STANDARDS.
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(a) STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the Sec-
16
retary develops standards under section 4, and every 2
17
years thereafter for the following 8 years, the Comptroller
18
General of the United States shall conduct a study that
19
assesses those standards, including the extent to which
20
those standards, as applicable—
21
(1) are voluntary;
22
(2) were developed in coordination with relevant
23
industry organizations, including voluntary con-
24
sensus standards development organizations; and
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(3) have successfully encouraged the adoption
1
of precision agriculture.
2
(b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the
3
United States shall submit to the Committee on Com-
4
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the
5
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the
6
House of Representatives a report that summarizes the
7
findings of each study conducted under subsection (a).
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Æ
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