H.R. 3212 — LAST ACRE Act of 2025

This section establishes the Last Acre Program as a new section 607 of Title VI of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb et seq.) to (1) advance precision agriculture connectivity nationwide and (2) augment last-mile broadband deployment for agricultural producers by expanding high-speed internet access across the last acre. The program defines key terms, including eligible land (cropland, grassland, rangeland, pastureland, farm sites, and other land used for agricultural commodities or livestock); covered producer (person or entity, including Agricultural Research Service centers, directly engaged in production on unserved or underserved eligible land where such production constitutes the majority of gross income); qualifying connectivity (broadband service capable of 100 Mbps download/20 Mbps upload speeds that provides broadband to agricultural structures and devices (e.g., tractors, drones, sensors), multipoint wireless connectivity on eligible land, or supports wireless infrastructure construction or retrofitting); unserved land (lacking 25/3 Mbps service); and underserved land (lacking 100/20 Mbps service). It also defines limited resource farmer or rancher (covered producer with gross farm sales of not more than $100,000 adjusted for inflation, total household income at or below national poverty level for a family of four or less than 50% of county median, excluding research centers). The Secretary of Agriculture must establish the program not later than one year after enactment.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture to update the National Agricultural Statistics Service's computer usage and ownership survey and the census of agriculture conducted under the Census of Agriculture Act of 1997 (7 U.S.C. 2204g)—a comprehensive quinquennial survey of U.S. farms, operators, production, and land use—to include questions on (1) whether the respondent subscribes to broadband internet access service for a farm site (i.e., as defined in section 607(b) of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936); and (2) if so, the download and upload speeds of that service and the purposes for which internet access is used, including precision agriculture (i.e., as defined in that section).