U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) reintroduced their bipartisan legislation to strengthen agricultural data collection and research to connect farmers with the most effective conservation practices.
The Agriculture Innovation Act would improve the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s data collection procedures for assessing how various conservation and production practices increase crop yield, improve soil health, and bolster productivity. The USDA currently manages and stores valuable producer data, but the data can be better utilized to inform farmers and producers’ understanding of which conservation practices help reduce risk and increase profitability.
“As the economic backbone of rural communities across our state, farmers and producers need the most up-to-date resources possible to inform their operations,” said Klobuchar. “This bipartisan legislation will provide farmers with better access to comprehensive USDA data, ensuring they are able to use the most effective conservation practices for boosting productivity and improving crop yield.”
“South Dakota farmers and ranchers are familiar with the many challenges that accompany their way of life,” said Thune. “Among them is measuring the economic value that conservation practices have on production, especially as the agriculture community tries to reduce risk and increase productivity amid global food security concerns. That’s why Congress must help producers and trusted researchers like land-grant universities better utilize USDA’s data to more effectively identify the conservation practices that would best improve productivity on farm and ranch operations.”