Federal grants to expand domestic organic farming and reduce import reliance

What it does

This bill creates a federal grant program to help domestic organic farmers, processors, and handlers expand their capacity and modernize their operations. Eligible entities—including individual producers, cooperatives, tribal governments, and certified organic businesses—can apply for grants up to $2 million (or $100,000 for equipment-only projects) to build storage, processing, and distribution infrastructure, improve food-safety compliance, and reduce reliance on imported organic products. The program requires matching funds from applicants and authorizes spending through fiscal 2030.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a competitive grant program funding supply-chain modernization for domestic organic producers. It is a straightforward subsidy to expand domestic agricultural capacity, not a regulatory change or market manipulation.

What the text implies

• Grant recipients must provide 25–50% matching funds, which may exclude smaller or under-capitalized producers despite waiver provisions for beginning farmers.
• The program's success depends on annual appropriations through 2030; authorization does not guarantee funding, and actual impact scales with congressional budget decisions.
• Preference for projects addressing 'imbalance of trade and reliance on organic imports' may favor larger, export-oriented operations over local/regional food systems.
• Technical assistance is discretionary ('may provide'), creating potential inequity in support across regions and entity types.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The program directly supports domestic food producers and supply-chain infrastructure, lowering barriers to market entry for small and beginning farmers, improving food-safety compliance, and expanding domestic organic supply—outcomes that benefit consumers through greater availability and potentially lower prices. Matching-fund waivers for beginning farmers and veterans further broaden access.

Who stands to gain

• certified organic producers and cooperatives
• organic food processors and handlers
• tribal governments operating organic enterprises
• equipment and infrastructure suppliers serving organic sector

Named in the bill

Secretary of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Indian Tribes, Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, National Organic Standards Board

Where it stands

4 cosponsors: 3 Democrats, 1 Republicans.

• Dec 10, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Dec 10, 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

2 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $80,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 2 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 41% of bills with at least one filing.

Andrea Salinas, the sponsor, reported $690,215 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Organic Trade Association — $60,000 on 2 filings
• Cooperative Regions of Organic Producer Pools (cropp) — $20,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.