# 119-s-5277: RANCH Act

119-s-5277, RANCH Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (R-SD); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-08-26).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5277
- As of: 2026-08-26
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-5277
- Congress: 119
- Title: RANCH Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-08-06
- Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (R-SD)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Agriculture and Food
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-08-26

## Summary

**Convert cropland to long-term perennial grazing land**. This bill creates a federal ranchland program that pays landowners to restore eligible cropland to perennial grasses and forbs and manage it for grazing under 10–15 year contracts. - Farmers and ranchers get multi-year contracts with a required grazing plan within 2 years and permission to graze, do fire presuppression, mowing, and limited emergency haying during severe drought or disasters. Contracts suspend the land’s base history from year 4 for the contract term. - Payments fund the switch to pasture. Annual rental payments equal 75% of the county average dryland cash rent. Cost-share covers 50% of establishment costs and incentives cover 50% for high-quality native seed and 50% for beginning farmers. Total cost-share plus incentives cannot exceed 100% of establishment costs. - Program design favors beginning farmers and ranchers, existing or planned grazers, wildlife habitat work, high-quality native seed use, highly erodible or marginal cropland, and includes ongoing technical assistance. Enrollment is continuous up to 20,000,000 acres and a $155,000 annual payment cap applies per person or entity.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] (D-MN), 2026-08-06T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Allowed uses and technical help for enrolled land: benefit, low. If enacted, enrolled land could be grazed according to a Secretary-approved site-specific grazing plan. Owners could perform fire presuppression, do fire-related rehabilitation, build fire breaks, and clip or mow to help plant establishment. Emergency haying outside the primary nesting season would…
- RANCH payments count toward AGI: cost, medium. If enacted, the bill would add RANCH program payments and benefits to the list of items counted when determining adjusted gross income (AGI) for AGI-based limits under the Food Security Act. That means RANCH payments would raise your AGI for programs that check AGI limits, which could reduce eligib…
- New ranchland enrollment rules for farmers: mixed, medium. If enacted, the Secretary would create a RANCH program to enroll eligible cropland by contract. Land would be eligible only if it was cropped or considered planted for at least 4 of the 6 crop years before enactment and would be restored to perennial grass and forb cover for grazing. The program wo…
- Rental and cost-share payments for farmers: mixed, medium. If enacted, owners or operators could get annual rent equal to 75% of the county average dryland cash rental rate for each enrolled acre. They would be eligible for cost-share covering 50% of the cost to establish perennial grass and forb cover. They would also be eligible for a 50% incentive for u…

## Related bills

- 119-s-3923: Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026
- 119-s-3257: John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Act
- 119-s-3597: National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2026
- 119-s-2287: Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act
- 119-s-5025: Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026
- 119-s-3940: Access to Fair Financing for Opportunity and Resilient Development Act

## Sources
- [119-s-5277 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/5277)

## Related
- [119-s-3923: Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3923)
- [119-s-3257: John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3257)
- [119-s-3597: National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3597)
- [119-s-2287: Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2287)
- [119-s-5025: Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5025)
- [119-s-3940: Access to Fair Financing for Opportunity and Resilient Development Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3940)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5277 (as of 2026-08-26).