Congress·In Committee·H.R. 8502

HARVEST Act

Farming: Support for Land Transfers and Heirs Property

Apr 27·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

Next up: A house committee

The HARVEST Act is in the early stages of the legislative process and is currently sitting in the House Committee on Agriculture. Since April 26, 2026, no further action has been taken on the bill. It must receive a vote or review from this committee to move forward, but most bills do not make it past this step.

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Unlikely to pass

While the bill addresses a major issue for rural families, it currently lacks bipartisan support and is only a request for a study, which often gets ignored unless added to a larger bill.

Key Points

This bill asks the Department of Agriculture to study how historically Black colleges and universities can better help farmers. It focuses on schools known as 1890 Institutions, which were created to serve Black students and rural communities.
The goal is to provide more education and technical help for transferring farm land to the next generation. This is especially important for heirs property, which is land passed down to family members without a clear legal will or deed.
Heirs property can be a major problem because it makes it hard for families to get loans or government help. Without a clear title, it is also easier for outside developers to take the land away from the family through legal loopholes.
The study must be finished and sent to Congress by September 30, 2026. It will look for ways these colleges can teach families how to keep their farms and pass them down legally and safely to their children and grandchildren.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Apr 27, 2026House

Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Apr 27, 2026

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

No votes or news coverage recorded for this bill yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

HARVEST Act

Bill NumberHR 8502

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(3)

D: 3

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.