Promoting Precision Agriculture Act

Summary · Congressional Research Service (nonpartisan)

This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop voluntary standards for precision agriculture (i.e., managing, tracking, or reducing crop or livestock production inputs, including seed, feed, fertilizer, chemicals, water, and time at a heightened level of spatial and temporal granularity to improve efficiencies, reduce waste, and maintain environmental quality). USDA, in consultation with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), must develop voluntary, consensus-based, private sector-led interconnectivity standards, guidelines, and best practices for precision agriculture to promote economies of scale and ease the burden of adoption. USDA must (1) coordinate with relevant public and trusted private sector stakeholders and relevant industry organizations, and (2) consult with sector-specific agencies and state and local governments. Further, in developing the standards, USDA must, in consultation with NIST and the FCC, consider the connectivity needs of precision agriculture equipment, cybersecurity challenges facing precision agriculture, and impact of artificial intelligence on this area. The Government Accountability Office must periodically assess and report to Congress on the standards.