H.R. 4865 — Advancing Research on Agricultural Soil Health Act of 2025

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture, not later than 270 days after enactment, to develop a standardized methodology to directly measure soil carbon for research and conservation purposes—after reviewing existing methodologies and consulting agricultural producers (including socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers), soil carbon experts, nonprofits, academic researchers, and other stakeholders—and authorizes $2 million for each fiscal year to carry out the section. The methodology must, to the maximum extent practicable, be usable at any location, require measurement to a standard soil depth using best available science, measure soil organic carbon and other soil health variables for standard reporting metrics, produce interoperable data for the Department of Agriculture, account for testing facility calibration differences and measurement tool uncertainties, and support voluntary reporting. This section further directs the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, to provide technical assistance—including multilingual guidance in digital and analog formats—for producers to voluntarily measure, monitor, and report soil carbon data using the methodology; such assistance applies to recipients of grants under conservation innovation grants (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-8), the sustainable agriculture research and education program (7 U.S.C. 5801 et seq.), the organic agriculture research and extension initiative (7 U.S.C. 5925b), Agriculture and Food Research Initiative grants (7 U.S.C. 3157(b)), or other appropriate programs, as well as any other electing producers. The Secretary must update the methodology and guidance as needed to reflect best available science while ensuring interoperability with prior data.

This section revises the priority areas under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI)—a USDA competitive grant program for fundamental and applied research, extension, and education in food and agricultural sciences—by adding measuring, monitoring, reporting, and verifying soil carbon sequestration and emissions as a new item (clause (ix)) in subsection (b)(2)(D).

This section revises the On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials program under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)—which provides technical and financial assistance to agricultural producers for conservation practices—by (1) adding soil health management systems, including systems to maintain or increase soil carbon levels and cost-effective tools to measure, monitor, report, and verify greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration, as an eligible practice category; and (2) extending the maximum duration of trial agreements to 5 years (from 3 years). The section further directs the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program—which funds competitive grants for research, education, and demonstration activities to promote sustainable farming practices—to conduct on-farm demonstration projects for soil carbon sequestration.

This section establishes the Soil Carbon Inventory and Analysis Network program, to be carried out by the Secretary of Agriculture acting jointly through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Administrator of the Agricultural Research Service. The program inventories, monitors, and analyzes soil carbon changes—including soil organic carbon across space, time, and depth—on eligible land (public and private cropland, rangeland, pastureland, and wetlands in the United States) every five years to assess impacts of land management strategies, including conservation activities (as defined in section 1240I of the Food Security Act of 1985), on soil carbon sequestration and to inform predictive tools for environmental outcomes such as resilience to extreme weather and reduced farm inputs. In implementing the program, the Secretary must (1) select sample sites based on accessibility, suitability for repeated measurements, and prior soil testing (with sufficient sites to cover regional resource areas defined by geographic, weather, natural resource, and soil characteristics); (2) use the methodology from section 3(a) of the Advancing Research on Agricultural Soil Health Act of 2025; (3) document site characteristics including soil type, land use history, and environmental factors; (4) obtain voluntary landowner authorization without conditioning it on other USDA benefits; and (5) protect data privacy by excluding identifiable, proprietary, or personal information. Survey and analysis data must be maintained in a soil characteristics inventory, which may be operated in partnership with land-grant institutions, higher education entities with relevant expertise, or federal research centers.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop and maintain a modeling tool (or tools) that predicts the impacts of land management practices, including conservation activities, on atmospheric carbon, methane, nitrous oxide emissions, and soil carbon sequestration across the United States. The tool must be anchored in direct land measurements (e.g., soil sampling under existing programs); account for variables such as soil type, land use, crops, geography, weather patterns, operation size, and ongoing conservation; enable users to estimate changes and uncertainty from implementing conservation activities; and be user-friendly and accessible to producers and researchers in multiple languages. The Secretary must consult specified entities (e.g., Secretary of Energy, EPA Administrator, socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, soil carbon experts, nonprofits, academics, private companies, and other stakeholders reflecting U.S. agricultural diversity) and may partner with land-grant institutions, universities, or federal research centers. The tool requires annual reviews with updates implemented within one year if needed based on best available data and science. Not later than two years after enactment and annually thereafter, the Secretary must report to Congress on tool development progress, accuracy in assessing permanence and additionality of emissions reductions or sequestration, models and data used, update determinations, and related efficacy information. The section authorizes $500,000 for each fiscal year to carry out these requirements.