Advancing Automation Research and Development in Agriculture Act

This bill would create a federal competitive grant program for research and extension on machines and automation for specialty crops, such as fruits, vegetables and nuts. Grants would support technologies that reduce manual labor, improve farmworker safety and working conditions, and make production, harvesting, processing and packaging more efficient. The program would give priority to projects that train farmworkers to operate and maintain the new equipment and that share results with producers and the public. The bill would reserve at least $30 million per year from fiscal years 2026 through 2031 for the program, extend existing specialty crop research funding through 2031, and let the Secretary of Agriculture waive matching funds requirements.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Adam B. Schiff Democrat sponsor
• 1 cosponsors