USDA launches $125M farm cybersecurity research network
H.R. 4046 — Cybersecurity in Agriculture Act of 2025 · Filed by Zachary (Zach) Nunn (R-IA) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 17, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish five regional cybersecurity research centers at colleges and universities to develop tools, training, and threat-monitoring systems protecting farms, food supply chains, and agricultural infrastructure from cyberattacks. The centers will conduct research, build testing facilities, train agricultural workers, and coordinate with industry and government to strengthen farm cybersecurity, with $25 million authorized annually through 2030.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is establishing a federally funded research and education program focused on cybersecurity for the agricultural sector. It is a straightforward public-investment measure with no tax carve-outs, liability shields, or private giveaways.
What the text implies
- The bill designates one college/university as national network coordinator, concentrating significant coordination authority and potential funding influence in a single institution—that entity's selection process is not specified in the bill and may warrant transparency scrutiny.
- Eligible entities must have both food/agriculture AND cybersecurity programs; this may limit participation to larger research universities, potentially excluding smaller agricultural colleges or community colleges with strong agriculture programs but weaker cyber capacity.
- The bill requires coordination with 'government authorities' but does not specify which agencies beyond USDA and DHS; unclear governance structure could create turf conflicts or redundancy with existing CISA agricultural cybersecurity initiatives.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill funds research and education infrastructure that strengthens cybersecurity defenses for agriculture—a critical sector affecting food supply, rural economies, and national food security. Citizens benefit from reduced vulnerability to cyberattacks on farms and food systems, and rural communities gain workforce development and technical resources.
Who stands to gain
- colleges and universities with food/agriculture and cybersecurity programs
- agricultural industry partners and cooperatives (indirect benefit through research and training)
Named in the bill
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), colleges and universities, agricultural cooperatives, agricultural industry
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 3 Democrats.
- Jun 17, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 17, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,005,758 in lobbying spend. A filing names 133 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Zachary (Zach) Nunn, the sponsor, reported $1,895,327 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies — $1,005,758 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,906 characters) on May 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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