Next Generation in Agriculture Act

Next Generation in Agriculture Act

This bill modifies several Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs and policies to provide additional assistance to beginning farmers and ranchers.

The bill includes provisions that

• reauthorize and modify the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program,
• create a permanent National Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coordinator and an Agricultural Youth Coordinator within USDA,
• establish a next generation agriculture technology challenge competition to provide an incentive for the development of innovative mobile technology that removes barriers to entry in the marketplace for beginning farmers and ranchers, and
• modify the definitions used for the Federal Crop Insurance Program to specify that a beginning farmer or rancher includes a farmer or rancher who has not farmed for more than 10 years (currently 5 years).