# Plain Language Summary: Office of Small Farms Establishment Act of 2023

This bill creates a new Office of Small Farms within the U.S. Department of Agriculture to focus specifically on helping smaller agricultural operations. The office will be run by a Director who coordinates with various USDA agencies to make sure small farms, ranches, and forest operations get better support and access to government programs. The bill defines a "small" operation as one with less than 180 acres (or another size threshold depending on the region and type of farming) and annual income under $350,000.

The new office will have several practical responsibilities. It will review existing USDA programs to identify rules or policies that make it harder for small operators to participate, then recommend changes to level the playing field. The office will also provide direct technical assistance to help small farm owners navigate USDA grants, loans, and cost-sharing programs that they might otherwise struggle to access. Additionally, the office can award grants of up to $25,000 to small farm operators for things like equipment repairs, business planning, conservation improvements, or down payments on land purchases. The office will also run a hotline where farmers can anonymously report problems they encounter when trying to use USDA services.

To make this work, the bill requires various USDA agencies—including the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Rural Development—to assign liaisons to coordinate with the new office. The bill authorizes $15 million per year for running the office itself and another $10 million annually for providing technical assistance and grants to small farm operators. This funding would be available from 2023 through 2028, though Congress would need to actually appropriate the money for it to be spent.

Office of Small Farms Establishment Act of 2023

Strickland, Marilyn

Office of Small Farms Establishment Act of 2023 This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish the Office of Small Farms within the farm production and conservation mission area. The office must coordinate, review, and implement various programs and activities related to small farms, ranches, and forest operations. Under the bill, a small farm, ranch, or forest operation (1) is less than 180 acres or meets another USDA-determined, acreage-based definition of small; and (2) has an annual gross cash farm income of less than $350,000. Activities of the office related to small farms, ranches, and forest operations must include <ul> <li>coordinating USDA efforts to improve support for these operators;</li> <li>reviewing and recommending changes to USDA statutory, regulatory, and administrative provisions, guidance, and policies that disadvantage these operators;</li> <li>providing or coordinating technical assistance for these operators for USDA grant, cost-share, and loan programs; and</li> <li>providing grants of not more than $25,000 to these operators directly or through cooperative agreements with other entities for areas including equipment and infrastructure repairs and upgrades, uninsured losses, business planning, and conservation practice adoption. </li> </ul>