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Floor Speech
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Mr. THUNE. Madam President, agriculture may well be among the world's oldest ways of life, but it has never been stagnant. Farmers and ranchers have always looked for new and better ways to increase crop yields, conserve resources, and keep their land and livestock healthy and productive. Today's agricultural producers explore new farming practices, grow more resilient crops, and adopt new technologies to produce more and to use less. And the resilience of our food supply and America's ability to feed our country and the world are in no small measure thanks to these farmer-driven advances.
As I said, farmers and ranchers are always looking for ways to improve their operations, but they can face challenges when they are looking for reliable data. While the U.S. Department of Agriculture collects a lot of data, little has been done to analyze and organize it so it is useful for farmers.
Right now, many producers have to rely on anecdotal information to determine the value of things, like conservation and other production practices, and decide what to adopt on their farms and ranches. Better data would make it easier for farmers to decide what practices are the best option for them.
A recent study of Department of Agriculture data from farms in several States confirmed anecdotal reports about certain conservation practices. It demonstrated that farmers who use these practices were more likely to be able to plant during an exceptionally wet spring. That is the kind of information farmers need to make informed decisions about their operations. We need to see more of this kind of analysis.
That is why, earlier this year, I introduced my bipartisan Agriculture Innovation Act with Senator Klobuchar. Our bill would make it easier for producers to use USDA data to assess the impact of various conservation and production practices so that producers can choose the right practices for their farm and ranch operations. I will work to get the Agriculture Innovation Act included in this year's farm bill.
While the macrolevel data that USDA collects can provide valuable information, farmers are already beginning to look to the next frontier, collecting real-time microlevel data from their own fields.
Imagine what a farmer could do with real-time information about soil quality, water uptake, and plant health. Imagine quickly knowing whether you need more nitrogen or less water in a section of your field. Imagine having real-time data about your land or livestock at your fingertips. This is the promise of precision agriculture: harnessing the power of technology to help producers manage their operations with real-time data.
GPS can allow farmers to identify field characteristics, map out irrigation, and optimize crop production on their fields. Soil monitors can allow farmers to react to conditions as they change and apply fertilizers more precisely. And remote monitoring can help farmers keep tabs on everything from resource usage to livestock health and feed consumption.
This precision agriculture represents a significant leap forward in farmers' long advance toward producing more and using less. It presents an opportunity to increase profitability by cutting down on inputs, the prices of which have spiked amid our inflation crisis. And it is a step toward broader use of conservation practices that will keep farm land in productive use for years to come.
But for Americans to reap all of the benefits of precision agriculture, more work needs to be done.
Today, I am introducing the bipartisan Promoting Precision Agriculture Act with Senator Warnock to help facilitate widespread adoption of precision technology. My bill would establish a partnership between government and the private sector to develop voluntary interconnectivity standards and prioritize cyber security for precision agriculture technologies. These standards will help enhance agriculture update and ensure reliability, usability, and security for producers and their data. It is an important element of ensuring these new technologies deliver the advances they promise and of making sure farmers and ranchers can trust that they are worthwhile investments.
But as farmers look to precision agriculture future, the one thing that could still hold them back is the continued digital divide. Without a reliable internet connection, precision agriculture just doesn't work. Next-generation precision ag technologies will need stronger connectivity.
Connecting unserved areas to reliable broadband has long been a priority of mine, and we made a good deal of progress through Federal investments and policies like my MOBILE NOW Act that removed regulatory barriers to broadband expansion.
But we still have a lot of work to do.
This year, I reintroduced my Rural Internet Improvement Act to streamline USDA's broadband authorities and ensure broadband funding goes to areas where at least 90 percent of households lack broadband access.
We also need to ensure broadband investments we have already made are actually going to their intended goal, and that is expanding broadband access to areas that are currently lacking it.
In the last 3 years, the Federal Government has allocated $79 billion to broadband programs. But all the money in the world is useless if it is not being spent properly, which is why I launched a broadband oversight initiative in December to ensure this funding is going toward delivering broadband to the Americans who need it most.
It has been clear for a long time how critical an internet connection is to the future of everything from education and healthcare to business and everyday life. Connectivity has the potential to truly revolutionize how we grow food in America.
I am proud that South Dakota has been a leader in precision agriculture. South Dakota State University was the first in the country to offer a 4-year precision agriculture degree. In 2021, the university opened the Raven Precision Agriculture Center where the next generation of farmers will work to advance the next generation of farming.
Since opening its precision ag center, SDSU has also launched a precision ag and cyber program with Dakota State University, a leading cyber security institution.
As I have said numerous times, agriculture is the lifeblood of South Dakota. And anything we can do to make agriculture more efficient and more productive is not only good for our Nation's food supply, it is good for South Dakota farmers and their families.
Precision agriculture is one of those things. It has the potential to deliver the same kind of advance that crop rotation, the Farmer's Almanac, and crop engineering delivered for farming. It can make farming more efficient, more cost-effective, and environmentally friendly than it already is. And it can help our farms produce more food for more people with fewer resources and on less land.
I will be working hard to ensure South Dakota farmers and ranchers and farmers and ranchers around the country have the resources they need to innovate and that this year's farm bill advances the next generation of farming.
A farmer is a lot of things: a scientist and a laborer, an innovator and accountant, an engineer and a conservationist. I am proud to serve the extraordinary men and women who keep our rich agricultural heritage alive and thriving. And I will continue working to help them as they move it into the future.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Promoting Precision Agriculture Act of 2023''. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) 3GPP.--The term ``3GPP'' means the Third Generation Partnership Project.
(2) Advanced wireless communications technology.--The term ``advanced wireless communications technology'' means advanced technology that contributes to mobile (5G or beyond) networks, next-generation Wi-Fi networks, or other future networks using other technologies, regardless of whether the network is operating on an exclusive licensed, shared licensed, or unlicensed frequency band.
(3) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial intelligence'' has the meaning given the term in section 238(g) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law 115-232; 10 U.S.C. note prec. 4061).
(4) Foreign adversary.--The term ``foreign adversary'' means any foreign government or foreign nongovernment person engaged in a long-term pattern or serious instances of conduct significantly adverse to the national security of the United States, or security and safety of United States persons.
(5) Precision agriculture.--The term ``precision agriculture'' means managing, tracking, or reducing crop or livestock production inputs, including seed, feed, fertilizer, chemicals, water, time, and such other inputs as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, at a heightened level of spatial and temporal granularity to improve efficiencies, reduce waste, and maintain environmental quality.
(6) Precision agriculture equipment.--The term ``precision agriculture equipment'' means any equipment or technology that directly contributes to a reduction in, or improved efficiency of, inputs used in crop or livestock production, including--
(A) global positioning system-based or geospatial mapping;
(B) satellite or aerial imagery;
(C) yield monitors;
(D) soil mapping;
(E) sensors for gathering data on crop, soil, and livestock conditions;
(F) Internet of Things and technology that relies on edge and cloud computing;
(G) data management software and advanced analytics;
(H) network connectivity products and solutions, including public and private wireless networks;
(I) global positioning system guidance, auto-steer systems, autonomous fleeting, and other machine-to-machine operations;
(J) variable rate technology for applying inputs, such as section control; and
(K) any other technology that leads to a reduction in, or improves efficiency of, crop and livestock production inputs, which may include--
(i) seed;
(ii) feed;
(iii) fertilizer;
(iv) chemicals;
(v) water;
(vi) time;
(vii) fuel;
(viii) emissions; and
(ix) such other inputs as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
(7) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Agriculture.
(8) Trusted.--The term ``trusted'' means, with respect to a provider of advanced communications service or a supplier of communications equipment or service, that the Secretary has determined that the provider or supplier is not owned by, controlled by, or subject to the influence of, a foreign adversary.
(9) Voluntary consensus standards development organization.--
(A) In general.--The term ``voluntary consensus standards development organization'' means an organization that develops standards in a process that meets the principles for the development of voluntary consensus standards (as defined in the document of the Office of Management and Budget entitled ``Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities'' (OMB Circular A-119)).
(B) Inclusions.--The term ``voluntary consensus standards development organization'' includes the 3GPP, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, the Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation, and the Global System for Mobile Communications Association. SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to enhance the participation of precision agriculture in the United States; and
(2) to promote United States leadership in voluntary consensus standards development organizations that set standards for precision agriculture. SEC. 4. INTERCONNECTIVITY STANDARDS FOR PRECISION AGRICULTURE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, shall--
(1) develop voluntary, consensus-based, private sector-led interconnectivity standards, guidelines, and best practices for precision agriculture that will promote economies of scale and ease the burden of the adoption of precision agriculture; and
(2) in carrying out paragraph (1)--
(A) coordinate with relevant public and trusted private sector stakeholders and other relevant industry organizations, including voluntary consensus standards development organizations; and
(B) consult with sector-specific agencies, other appropriate agencies, and State and local governments.
(b) Considerations.--The Secretary, in carrying out subsection (a), shall, in consultation with the Federal Communications Commission and the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, consider--
(1) the evolving demands of precision agriculture;
(2) the connectivity needs of precision agriculture equipment;
(3) the cybersecurity challenges facing precision agriculture, including cybersecurity threats for agriculture producers and agriculture supply chains;
(4) the impact of advanced wireless communications technology on precision agriculture; and
(5) the impact of artificial intelligence on precision agriculture. SEC. 5. GAO ASSESSMENT OF PRECISION AGRICULTURE STANDARDS.
(a) Study.--Not later than 1 year after the Secretary develops standards under section 4, and every 2 years thereafter for the following 8 years, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study that assesses those standards, including the extent to which those standards, as applicable--
(1) are voluntary;
(2) were developed in coordination with relevant industry organizations, including voluntary consensus standards development organizations; and
(3) have successfully encouraged the adoption of precision agriculture.
(b) Report.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report that summarizes the findings of each study conducted under subsection (a). ______
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