A bill to amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to authorize grants for eligible institutions to carry out agriculture workforce training programs, and for other purposes.
Key claim: This Senate bill would let USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture give grants to land-grant universities, agriculture colleges, community colleges, and career-tech schools so they can partner with agribusiness to train students through internships, apprenticeships, and similar programs.
Abstract
(S2727 · 119th Congress) This bill directs the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to establish a grant program within its Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program for eligible educational institutions to develop and carry out agriculture workforce training programs. Eligible institutions include U.S. land-grant universities, non-land-grant colleges of agriculture, junior or community colleges with agriculture programs, and area career and technical education schools with agriculture programs. The grants must be used to develop and carry out agriculture workforce training programs to (1) promote the growth of the agriculture industry, (2) foster competitiveness within the industry, and (3) improve the training and retention of workers in the industry. An agriculture workforce training program is a program developed by an eligible institution in collaboration with a targeted industry partner through which the industry partner provides training to enrolled students. This may include training through internships, apprenticeships, experience-based curricula, and educational programs and workshops. The program must be implemented by January 31, 2026. Latest action (2025-09-04): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Why this matters
Agricultural employers routinely cite shortages of skilled workers, and USDA already funds various education pipelines through NIFA; a dedicated workforce training grant stream would formalize industry-school partnerships for internships and apprenticeships. For farmers and agribusinesses, this could expand the pool of trained hires, while for students it would subsidize paid, hands-on entry into agricultural careers. The bill is at the introduced stage with no change yet to law, funding, or program rules.