S. 5126

119 S5126 IS: Seeds and Breeds for the Future Act
 U.S. Senate
 2026-07-23
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 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  S. 5126  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   July 23, 2026   Ms. Baldwin  (for herself,  Ms. Smith ,  Mr. Heinrich , and  Mr. Fetterman ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry    A BILL
To amend the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act and the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to further plant cultivar and animal breed research, development, and commercialization, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Seeds and Breeds for the Future Act  .
2.
Public cultivar development
Section 2 of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act ( 7 U.S.C. 3157 ) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
(3)
Definitions
In this section:
(A)
Conventional breeding
The term  conventional breeding  means the development of new varieties of an organism through controlled mating and selection without the use of transgenic methods.
(B)
Cultivar
The term  cultivar  means a variety of a species of plant that has been intentionally selected for use in cultivation because of the improved characteristics of that variety of the species.
(C)
Public animal breed
The term  public animal breed  means an animal breed—
(i)
that is the commercially available uniform end product of a publicly funded breeding program that has been sufficiently tested to demonstrate improved characteristics and stable performance; and
(ii)
with respect to which, if intellectual property rights are asserted, the intellectual property rights are in the form of animal breed patents or animal breed variety protection and not utility patents.
(D)
Public cultivar
The term  public cultivar  means a cultivar—
(i)
that is the appropriately named and commercially available uniform end product of a publicly funded breeding program that has been sufficiently tested to demonstrate improved characteristics and stable performance; and
(ii)
with respect to which, if intellectual property rights are asserted, the intellectual property rights are in the form of plant patents or plant variety protection and not utility patents.
(E)
Public cultivar or animal breed
The term  public cultivar or animal breed  means—
(i)
a public animal breed; and
(ii)
a public cultivar.
 ; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following:
(l)
Public cultivar and animal breed development funding
(1)
Set-aside
(A)
In general
Of the amount of grants made under the provisions of law described in subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall ensure that not less than $75,000,000 for each fiscal year is used for competitive research grants that support the development of public cultivars and animal breeds.
(B)
Provisions of law described
The provisions of law referred to in subparagraph (A) are—
(i)
subsections (b) and (c);
(ii)
section 1672B(e) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 ( 7 U.S.C. 5925b(e) );
(iii)
sections 1619 through 1624 of that Act ( 7 U.S.C. 5801 et seq. );
(iv)
any relevant competitive grant program authorized by section 406 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 ( 7 U.S.C. 7626 ), as determined by the Secretary; and
(v)
section 412 of that Act ( 7 U.S.C. 7632 ).
(2)
Priority
In making grants under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to high-potential research projects that lead to the release of public cultivars and animal breeds, including—
(A)
regionally adapted public cultivars and animal breeds;
(B)
public cultivars and animal breeds bred for environmental resilience, including resilience to changing climates;
(C)
public animal breeds adapted to grazing and overwintering as appropriate for the applicable production region;
(D)
germplasm collection and curation, with emphasis on native plant and animal species;
(E)
public cultivars and animal breeds bred to enhance the nutritional and health outcomes of local and Indigenous populations;
(F)
public cultivars and animal breeds of Indigenous and place-based importance that are endangered; and
(G)
public cultivars and animal breeds with beneficial and compatible characteristics and behaviors for dual-use renewable energy-agricultural systems.
(3)
Grants
The Secretary shall ensure that the terms and renewal process for any competitive grants made under subsection (b) in accordance with paragraph (1) facilitate the development and commercialization of public cultivars and animal breeds through long-term grants.
(4)
Requirement for domestic production
No person that receives title to a patent or variety protection relating to any public cultivar or animal breed developed using funds received under this subsection, and no assignee of any such person, shall grant to any person the exclusive right to use or sell that public cultivar or animal breed unless that person agrees that any cultivars or animals embodying the public cultivar or animal breed or produced through the use of the public cultivar or animal breed will be produced substantially in the United States.
(5)
Report
Not later than October 1 of each year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that provides information on all public cultivar and animal breeding research funded by the Department of Agriculture, including—
(A)
a list of public cultivars and animal breeds developed and released in a commercially available form;
(B)
areas of high-priority research;
(C)
identified research gaps relating to public cultivar and animal breed development; and
(D)
an assessment of the state of commercialization for public cultivars and animal breeds that have been developed.
 .
3.
Public cultivar and animal breed research coordination
(a)
In general
Section 251 of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 ( 7 U.S.C. 6971 ) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (e), by adding at the end the following:
(7)
Public cultivar and animal breed research activities coordinator
(A)
In general
The Under Secretary shall appoint a coordinator within the Research, Education, and Extension Office that reports to the Under Secretary to coordinate research activities at the Department relating to the breeding of public cultivars and animal breeds (as defined in paragraph (3) of section 2(a) of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act ( 7 U.S.C. 3157(a) )).
(B)
Duties of coordinator
The coordinator appointed under subparagraph (A) shall—
(i)
coordinate plant and animal breeding research activities funded by the Department relating to the development of public cultivars and animal breeds;
(ii)
(I)
carry out ongoing analysis and track activities for any Federal research funding supporting plant and animal breeding (including any public cultivars and animal breeds developed with Federal funds); and
(II)
ensure that the analysis and activities are made available to the public not later than 60 days after the last day of each fiscal year;
(iii)
develop a strategic plan that establishes targets for public cultivar and animal breed research investments across the Department to ensure that a diverse range of crop and animal needs are being met in a timely and transparent manner;
(iv)
convene a working group in order to carry out the coordination functions described in this subparagraph comprised of individuals who are responsible for the management, administration, or analysis of public cultivar and animal breeding programs within the Department from—
(I)
the National Institute of Food and Agriculture;
(II)
the Agricultural Research Service; and
(III)
the Economic Research Service;
(v)
in order to maximize delivery of public cultivars and animal breeds, promote collaboration among—
(I)
the coordinator;
(II)
the working group convened under clause (iv);
(III)
the advisory council established under section 1634 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 ( 7 U.S.C. 5843 );
(IV)
genetic resource conservation centers;
(V)
land-grant colleges and universities (as defined in section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 ( 7 U.S.C. 3103 ));
(VI)
Hispanic-serving institutions (as defined in section 502(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1101a(a) ));
(VII)
Native American-serving nontribal institutions (as defined in section 371(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1067q(c) ));
(VIII)
nongovernmental organizations with interest or expertise in public breeding; and
(IX)
public and private plant and animal breeders, including small-scale organic breeders;
(vi)
convene regular stakeholder listening sessions to provide input on national and regional priorities for public cultivar and animal breeding research activities across the Department; and
(vii)
evaluate and make recommendations to the Under Secretary on training and resource needs to meet future breeding challenges.
 ; and
(2)
in subsection (f)(1)(D)(i), by striking  ( 7 U.S.C. 450i(b) )  and inserting  ( 7 U.S.C. 3157(b) ) .
(b)
Conforming amendment
Section 296(b)(6)(B) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 ( 7 U.S.C. 7014(b)(6)(B) ) is amended by striking  Scientist; and  and inserting  Scientist (including the public cultivar and animal breed research activities coordinator under subsection (e)(7) of that section); and .
4.
Implementation of national strategic germplasm and cultivar collection assessment and utilization plan
(a)
In general
The Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the  Secretary ) shall implement the National Strategic Germplasm and Cultivar Collection Assessment and Utilization Plan developed under section 1632(d)(6) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 ( 7 U.S.C. 5841(d)(6) ) (referred to in this section as the  Plan ).
(b)
Staff
The Secretary shall retain or employ such staff as the Secretary determines necessary to implement the Plan.
(c)
Report
The Secretary shall submit to Congress an annual report that includes the following:
(1)
A description of the progress towards implementation of the Plan.
(2)
A description of the staff retained or employed under subsection (b).
(3)
Annual expenditures related to the implementation of—
(A)
the National Plant Germplasm System; and
(B)
the Plan.
(4)
Data on the use of the National Plant Germplasm System, including—
(A)
the number of germplasm requests submitted to the Agricultural Research Service Germplasm Resources Information Network;
(B)
the sectors (such as private, public, corporation, or independent) of the entities that submitted requests described in subparagraph (A);
(C)
the number of fulfilled requests described in subparagraph (A), by crop and Agricultural Research Service location; and
(D)
the sectors described in subparagraph (B) of the entities for which requests described in subparagraph (A) were fulfilled.
5.
Development and implementation of National Strategic Animal Germplasm Collection and Utilization Plan
Section 1632 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 ( 7 U.S.C. 5841 ) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (d)—
(A)
in paragraph (6), by striking  and  at the end;
(B)
by redesignating paragraph (7) as paragraph (8); and
(C)
by inserting after paragraph (6) the following:
(7)
subject to subsection (e), develop and implement a national strategic animal germplasm collection assessment and utilization plan that takes into consideration the resources and research necessary to address the significant backlog of characterization and maintenance of existing accessions considered to be critical to preserve the viability of, and public access to, animal germplasm; and
  ; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following:
(e)
National strategic animal germplasm collection assessment and utilization plan requirements
In developing and implementing the plan under subsection (d)(7), the Secretary shall—
(1)
engage broadly with the agricultural community, including organic and agroecological producers and researchers and the general community, to prioritize traits and breeds for conservation; and
(2)
support data collection and documentation of traits relevant to a broad range of agricultural systems, including—
(A)
organic systems, such as forage-based growth;
(B)
mobility;
(C)
reproductive longevity;
(D)
natural disease resistance; and
(E)
animal behavior.
 .