DOD and USDA Interagency Research Act

Key Points

• This bill creates a formal partnership between the Department of Defense and the Department of Agriculture. The two agencies will work together on research projects that help both national security and American farming.
• The research will focus on protecting the food supply from threats and creating new materials for the military. This includes making fuels and explosives from crops and using artificial intelligence to improve how food is grown and moved across the country.
• The program will provide grants to colleges, private companies, and non-profit groups to develop new technologies. To receive a grant, these groups must provide their own money to match the amount they get from the government.
• The bill includes strict rules to keep this research safe from foreign spies and cyberattacks. It also protects the private data of farmers so that it cannot be shared with the public or released through open records requests.
• The agencies can use money they already have to start these projects instead of waiting for new funding. They must also send a report to Congress every year to explain what they have discovered and how the money was spent.

Impact Analysis

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