Bustos, Feenstra Introduce Legislation to Help Farmers Access & Utilize Precision Agriculture Technologies

PEORIA — Right now, U.S. Recurrentatives Cheri Bustos (IL-17) and Randy Feenstra (IA-04) launched the Precision Agriculture Mortgage Program (PAL) Act of 2022, bipartisan legal guidelines Which might set up The primary-ever federal precision agriculture loan program Inside the U.S. Division of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency. Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) have launched companion legal guidelines Inside the U.S. Senate.

“With rising fertilizer prices and environmental considerations, it’s extra important than ever To promote precision agriculture,” said Congresswoman Bustos. “Sadly, extreme prices make this slicing-edge know-how out of attain for too many farmers Inside the Heartland. That’s why I’m proud To hitch bipartisan legal guidelines with Congressman Randy Feenstra To assist extra household farmers entry local climate-smart utilized sciences as we work To Scale again our influence on the environment and reduce enter prices in agriculture.”

“As a Outcome of of slicing-edge evaluation at our nation’s prime universities like Iowa State and completely different scientific developments, precision agriculture know-how has Discover your self to be An important factor Of current farming,” said Congressman Feenstra. “From sustainability efforts to improved yields, precision agriculture concurrently assists Iowa farmers be worthwhile and worthwhile, protects Our environment, and powers our rural financial system. I am proud To assist introduce the Precision Agriculture Mortgage Program Act with my colleague Congresswoman Cheri Bustos To Guarantee our agricultural group can entry low-curiosity loans to increase their precision agriculture operations.”

“The Affiliation Of package Producers (AEM) is proud to see extra bipartisan assist coalesce Throughout the Precision Agriculture Mortgage Program (PAL) Act and supply our honest gratitude to Recurrentatives Feenstra and Bustos for introducing this legal guidelines Inside the U.S. House of Recurrentatives,” said Kip Eideberg, AEM Senior Vice chairman, Authorities and Enterprise Relations. “The PAL Act will open doorways for future generations of farmers, giving them the devices to undertake local climate-smart agricultural practices. America’s farmers are On A daily basis requested to do extra with much less – and precision agriculture is The exact reply Which will empower our farmers to deal with this demand.”

The Precision Agriculture Mortgage Program Act would supply loans As a lot as $500,000 between 3 and 12 years in size at Costs of curiosity of Decrease than 2% and create An inventory of acceptable precision agriculture utilized sciences accredited by the Farm Service Agency and coated by the USDA. This funding would additionally permit farmers to retrofit current gear with new utilized sciences.

The complete textual content material of the legal guidelines Might be found right here.