Summary
# Plain English Summary: S. 795 Agricultural Management Assistance Act of 2023
## WHAT THIS BILL DOES
This bill changes the rules for federal crop insurance (insurance that helps protect farmers when their crops fail) education and assistance programs. It expands who receives education and support services and adds new types of farming practices that farmers can get help with, including sustainable water systems and soil health improvements.
## WHO IT AFFECTS
- Agricultural producers (farmers)
- Approved crop insurance providers (companies that sell crop insurance)
- Federal crop insurance providers
- The Secretary of Agriculture (the government official who oversees farming programs)
## KEY PROVISIONS
- Education and technical assistance services now include language translation services for farmers and crop insurance providers (Sec. 2(a)(2)(A))
- Farmers can receive help paying for new practices including soil health improvements, sustainable water sources, establishment of perennial crops and agroforestry systems, integration of livestock, composting of crop and livestock waste, and conservation practices that reduce climate change financial risk (Sec. 2(b)(2)(C))
- Farmers can receive help with production or marketing diversification, including value-added processing, market infrastructure development, organic farming, and food safety certification (Sec. 2(b)(2)(D))
- Individual farmers can receive a maximum of $200,000 over any 5-year period for these assistance activities (Sec. 2(b)(3))
- An additional $20,000,000 per year is authorized to be spent on these programs starting in 2023 (Sec. 2(b)(5))
## WHAT CHANGES
If this becomes law, farmers will have access to education services translated into languages they speak. Farmers will be eligible for more types of assistance programs covering sustainable farming practices and business diversification. The maximum amount of assistance a single farmer can receive increases from $50,000 per year to $200,000 per 5-year period. More funding becomes available for these education and assistance programs.
## IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
The bill does not explicitly define any terms.
## EFFECTIVE DATE
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 795
To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to improve education and risk
management assistance, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 14, 2023
Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. KING) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agri-
culture, Nutrition, and Forestry
A BILL
To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to improve edu-
cation and risk management assistance, 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 ‘‘Agricultural Manage-
4
ment Assistance Act of 2023’’.
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SEC. 2. EDUCATION AND RISK MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE.
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Section 524 of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7
7
U.S.C. 1524) is amended—
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(1) in subsection (a)—
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(A) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘for
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the purpose of educating agricultural producers
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and providing technical assistance to agricul-
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tural producers’’ and inserting ‘‘for the purpose
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of educating and providing technical assistance
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to agricultural producers and approved crop in-
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surance providers, including language trans-
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lation services as appropriate,’’;
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(B) in paragraph (3)—
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(i) in the matter preceding subpara-
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graph (A), by striking ‘‘education, and out-
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reach’’ and inserting ‘‘education, outreach,
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and language translation’’;
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(ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking
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‘‘and’’ at the end after the semicolon;
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(iii) by redesignating subparagraph
16
(F) as subparagraph (G); and
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(iv) by inserting after subparagraph
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(E) the following:
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‘‘(F) Federal crop insurance providers, es-
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pecially with respect to the whole farm diversi-
21
fied risk management insurance plan developed
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under section 522(c)(7); and’’; and
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(C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘para-
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graph (3)(E)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (3)
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with respect to the entities described in sub-
1
paragraphs (E) and (F) of that paragraph’’;
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and
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(2) in subsection (b)—
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(A) in paragraph (2)—
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(i) in the matter preceding subpara-
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graph (A), by striking ‘‘subsection to—’’
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and inserting ‘‘subsection—’’;
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(ii) in each of subparagraphs (A)
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through (F), by inserting ‘‘to’’ before the
10
first word of the subparagraph;
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(iii) in subparagraph (C)—
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(I) in the matter preceding clause
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(i), by striking ‘‘production or mar-
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keting diversification or’’;
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(II) in clause (ii), by inserting
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‘‘areawide’’ before ‘‘integrated’’;
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(III) in clause (iii), by striking
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‘‘or’’ at the end after the semicolon;
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and
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(IV) by striking clause (iv) and
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inserting the following:
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‘‘(iv) soil health improvements;
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‘‘(v) development of sustainable water
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sources and irrigation;
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‘‘(vi) perennial crop establishment, in-
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cluding establishment of agroforestry sys-
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tems;
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‘‘(vii) integration of livestock;
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‘‘(viii) aerobic composting of crop and
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livestock waste; or
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‘‘(ix) other conservation practices de-
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termined by the Secretary to reduce the
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risk to a farm of financial loss due to the
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regional impacts of climate change;’’;
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(iv) by redesignating subparagraphs
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(D) through (F) as subparagraphs (E)
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through (G), respectively;
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(v) by inserting after subparagraph
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(C) the following:
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‘‘(D) to mitigate financial risk through
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production or marketing diversification, includ-
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ing through—
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‘‘(i) developing or implementing a
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plan to create marketing opportunities for
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the producer, including through value-
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added processing;
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‘‘(ii) developing or implementing a
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plan to establish market infrastructure for
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the producer to support enterprise diver-
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sification, including drying and storage fa-
1
cilities for small grains from resource-con-
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serving crop rotations;
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‘‘(iii) organic farming; and
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‘‘(iv) food safety certification;’’; and
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(vi) in subparagraph (G) (as so redes-
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ignated), by striking ‘‘(E)’’ and inserting
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‘‘(F)’’;
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(B) in paragraph (3)—
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(i) by striking ‘‘The total amount’’
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and inserting the following:
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
12
graph (B), the total amount’’;
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(ii) in subparagraph (A) (as so des-
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ignated), by striking ‘‘for any year may
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not exceed $50,000’’ and inserting ‘‘for
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any
5-year
period
may
not
exceed
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$200,000’’; and
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(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
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lowing:
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‘‘(B) EXCLUSION
OF
OTHER
FEDERAL
21
FUNDS.—Any payments made to a person de-
22
scribed in subparagraph (A) for carrying out
23
activities described in paragraph (2) that are
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not made pursuant to this subsection shall not
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count for purposes of the payment limitation es-
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tablished under that subparagraph.’’;
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(C) in paragraph (4)—
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(i) in subparagraph (B)—
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(I) in clause (i), by striking
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‘‘$10,000,000’’
and
inserting
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‘‘$30,000,000’’;
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(II) by striking clause (ii); and
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(III) by striking the subpara-
9
graph designation and heading and all
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that follows through ‘‘Except as pro-
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vided in clause (ii), the’’ in clause (i)
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and inserting the following:
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‘‘(B) FUNDING.—The’’; and
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(ii) in subparagraph (C)—
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(I) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘to
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provide’’ and inserting ‘‘to carry out
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paragraph
(2)(D),
including
pro-
18
viding’’; and
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(II) in clause (iii), by striking
20
‘‘(F)’’ and inserting ‘‘(G)’’; and
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(D) by adding at the end the following:
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‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In
23
addition to amounts made available under paragraph
24
(4), there is authorized to be appropriated to carry
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out this section $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2023
1
and each fiscal year thereafter, to remain available
2
until expended.’’.
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Æ
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