Sustainable Agriculture Research Act

Sustainable Agriculture Research Act

This bill revises the goals of the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority (AGARDA).

Specifically, the bill expands the goals to require AGARDA to enhance the role of sustainable agriculture in innovative voluntary resilience solutions in the United States through the development of agricultural technologies that may address

• the impact of extreme weather on crop production;
• the effects of drought and the potential of building water holding capacity in soils on croplands and rangelands;
• the expansion of the potential for long-term carbon storage through sustainable agriculture;
• increased economic and practical feasibility for renewable and sustainable energy on farms and in the agriculture industry;
• increased voluntary adoption of conservation practices that sequester carbon and build on-farm climate resilience; and
• increased economic and practical feasibility for, and voluntary adoption of, precision agriculture technology.

The bill defines precision agriculture as managing, tracking, or reducing crop or livestock production inputs (including seed, feed, fertilizer, chemicals, water, and time) at a heightened level of spatial and temporal granularity to improve efficiencies, reduce waste, and maintain environmental quality.