Farmers own their farm data. Companies need permission to sell it.
S. 5459 — Agricultural Data Privacy Act of 2026 · Filed by Pete Ricketts (R-NE) · Introduced Sep 23, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
The bill says farmers own data from their farms. Companies cannot sell that data without permission. Companies must keep farm data safe. The Attorney General can fine companies $1,000 per violation. Farmers cannot sue companies themselves.
Who it affects
Farmers gain control over data made on their land. Farm equipment makers may face limits on selling data from their machines.
One thing to notice
The bill protects raw farm data. It does not protect predictions or reports made from that data. Companies can still sell those insights without asking farmers.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 23, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 23, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Attorney General — The top lawyer for the federal government who enforces laws.
- permission — Written approval from a farmer before a company can sell their data.
- fine — Money a company must pay for breaking a law.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (11,769 characters) on Sep 30, 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.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Farmers own their farm data. Companies need permission to sell it.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s5459/simple Report an error
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