Seeds and Breeds for the Future Act

What it does

If passed by Congress, the Seeds and Breeds for the Future Act would invest in public research, develop regionally adapted seed varieties and animal breeds, and enable the U.S. to maintain a robust and resilient food and agricultural system. The bill promotes the development of ready-to-use, regionally adapted, and publicly available seed varieties and animal breeds. This would give farmers more tools to confront drought, varying growing conditions, and to have plant and animal varieties that are better suited to their area. Further, it would ensure American farmers have access to domestically produced seeds and breeds that are developed through publicly available research. Specifically, this bill would:

• Create a $75 million carveout in USDA research grants for the development of new public seeds (“cultivars”) and animal breeds;
• Promote efficient use of grants by establishing a coordinator to develop a strategy for public cultivar research and an interagency working group informed by stakeholders to coordinate activities of the multiple research agencies;
• Ensure public accessibility of the plants and breeds developed using the grant funding carve out in the Seeds and Breeds for the Future Act;
• Ensure that American farmers, producers and businesses are the beneficiaries of the USDA investments into the research and development of seeds and breeds; and
• Outline priorities for competitive research grants including:
  
  • public cultivars and animal breeds that are regionally adapted,
  • bred for environmental resilience including changing climate,
  • bred to enhance the nutritional and health outcomes of local and Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian populations,
  • bred with beneficial and compatible characteristics and behaviors for dual-use renewable energy-agricultural systems

Read a one-page summary of the bill.

Who supports this bill?

Senators Tammy Baldwin, Martin Heinrich, Tina Smith, John Fetterman and Ron Wyden introduced this bill. In the Senate, this bill is referred to as S. 2023 and these Senators are already supporting the bill. This bill has not yet been introduced to the House of Representatives.

Dozens of organizations have endorsed this bill, including National Organic Coalition, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and Native Farm Bill Coalition.

Want to support this bill?

You can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be connected with your elected officials. An operator will ask for your address and then forward your call to friendly staff who work for the people elected to represent you. As a constituent in their district, your voice matters!

If your Senators and House Representative aren’t already on the list of cosponsors who support the bill:

• Ask your two Senators to “cosponsor the Seeds and Breeds for the Future Act, S.2023.”
• Ask your House Representative to “support a companion bill to the Senate’s Seeds and Breeds for the Future Act, S.2023.”

If your elected officials are already supporting the Seeds and Breeds for the Future Act, you can always contact them to thank them and help spread the word among your networks.

Resources

If you’d like to learn more about the Seeds and Breeds for the Future Act, you can:

• Find detailed instructions for calling or writing your Senators (tip: enter your address)
• Track the bill’s progress on Congress.gov or GovTrack
• Learn why lawmakers support this bill (Senator Tammy Baldwin’s press release)
• Read the full bill text

See more bills worthy of your support in the 2023 Farm Bill.