# The GRAIN for America Act: What It Does

This bill puts the brakes on a major federal conservation program for one year and makes permanent changes to how farmland can be used. Specifically, it freezes new enrollments in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which is a decades-old initiative where the government pays farmers to take land out of production and use it for conservation purposes like planting trees, restoring wetlands, or preventing soil erosion. Starting immediately after the bill passes, the Department of Agriculture cannot accept any new applications from farmers who want to enroll their land in this program for the next twelve months. However, farmers who already have contracts with the program can keep them—this freeze only stops new participants from joining.

Beyond the one-year freeze, the bill makes a permanent change by prohibiting "prime farmland" from ever being enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program going forward. Prime farmland is essentially the best agricultural soil in the country—land that's especially productive for growing crops. The bill's supporters argue this keeps the most valuable farmland available for actual food production rather than being set aside for conservation. This is a permanent restriction that would outlast the temporary enrollment freeze.

The bill also makes it easier for farmers to exit their conservation contracts early. Currently, farmers can only terminate their contracts during a specific window before the contract expires. Under this bill, farmers could end their contracts at any time during the year before their contract would normally end, giving them more flexibility to return their land to farming if they choose to do so.

The practical effect is that this bill prioritizes agricultural production over conservation efforts on the best farmland, at least for the most productive land in the country. Farmers with marginal or less productive land could still enroll in the program, but the nation's most fertile soil would be kept available for crops.

GRAIN for America Act

Rep. Tiffany, Thomas P. [R-WI-7]

Guaranteeing Robust Agricultural Independence and Nutrition for America Act or the GRAIN for America Act This bill establishes a one-year moratorium on the enrollment of land in the Conservation Reserve Program, with a specified exception for land that is already subject to a contract under the program. It also prohibits the Department of Agriculture from enrolling prime farmland in the program. Additionally, the bill allows a participant who has entered into a contract under the program to terminate the contract at any time during the one-year period preceding the date on which the contact would expire.