Strong Farms, Strong Future Act
Sponsored By: Representative Rep. Underwood, Lauren [D-IL-14]
Introduced
Summary
Expand and intensify the Conservation Stewardship Program to push soil health, carbon sequestration, and greenhouse gas reductions across working farms. The bill would add new eligible practices, score contracts on climate outcomes, and create Climate Change Mitigation Bundles to group activities for measurable greenhouse gas cuts and soil carbon gains.
Show full summary
- Farmers and producers: Would add and define perennial production systems such as agroforestry, perennial grains and oilseeds, perennial forages, alley cropping, windbreaks, and silvopasture as eligible activities. It would boost contract flexibility by allowing earlier renewals, automatic renewal when perennial systems are installed or improved, and adjust CSP payments for inflation during a contract.
- Climate and land benefits: Would change how contract offers are evaluated to prioritize soil health improvements, carbon sequestration, and greenhouse gas reductions and to account for full operation‑wide benefits from active management of conservation practices.
- Program access and oversight: Would establish Climate Change Mitigation Bundles that must be available to organic and conventional producers, require outreach, and mandate reporting with producer feedback, barriers to adoption, disaggregated data by gender, race, age, and district, and estimated greenhouse gas mitigation per bundle.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
New climate bundles for farmers
This bill would create climate bundles of conservation actions for farms, ranches, and forest land. Bundles would be state or region specific and include options for cropland, pasture, rangeland, and forest land. USDA would offer at least one bundle for perennials, soil health systems, advanced grazing, and specialty crops. Organic and conventional producers would have equal access, and USDA would do targeted outreach each year. Within 2 years after bundles first become available, USDA would report to Congress with producer feedback, data by gender, race, age, and district, barriers, recommended changes, and per‑acre greenhouse gas and carbon results for each bundle.
Perennial bonuses and CSP inflation adjustments
If enacted, CSP supplemental payments would also cover eligible perennial production systems, not just crop rotations or advanced grazing. Your perennial system would need to meet CSP rules to qualify for the extra payment. Planned CSP payments would be adjusted for inflation over the contract life to reflect costs like materials, labor, and training. The bill does not set which price index or formula USDA would use.
New CSP scoring and easier renewals
The bill would update CSP ranking rules to give equal weight to listed factors and to focus on soil health, carbon storage, and cutting greenhouse gases. This could change which offers get funded. USDA could offer renewal in the first half of year five of a 5‑year CSP contract if you are in compliance and agree to keep adding or improving conservation and meet at least one more stewardship target by the end of the term. Renewal decisions would look at the whole operation and ongoing active management. USDA could auto‑renew if those renewal conditions are met and you installed or improved a perennial production system during the contract.
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Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Rep. Underwood, Lauren [D-IL-14]
IL • D
Cosponsors
Rep. Nunn, Zachary [R-IA-3]
IA • R
Sponsored 7/16/2025
Rep. Sorensen, Eric [D-IL-17]
IL • D
Sponsored 12/17/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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