Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics

Section 251 of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6971) is amended— (1) in subsection (c)— (A) in paragraph (1), by striking and at the end; (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting; and; and (C) by adding at the end the following: (3) be responsible for the coordination of research activities with other Federal agencies.; (2) in subsection (e)(3)(C), by striking not less than 3 years and inserting not less than 1 year; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (h) Interagency coordination (1) In general The Secretary shall carry out cross-cutting and collaborative research and development activities focused on the joint advancement of the mission requirements and priorities of the Department of Agriculture and other Federal agencies. (2) Memoranda of understanding (A) Department of Energy (i) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, the Secretary and the Secretary of Energy(referred to in this subparagraph as the Secretaries) shall coordinate the activities under paragraph (1) through the establishment of memoranda of understanding or other appropriate interagency agreements. Such a memorandum or such an agreement shall require the use of a competitive, merit-reviewed process as appropriate. Activities may include components proposed by Federal agencies, National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, and other entities deemed appropriate under the memorandum or agreement. (ii) Coordination In carrying out the activities under paragraph (1), the Secretaries may— (I) conduct collaborative research in a variety of focus areas; (II) develop methods to accommodate large voluntary standardized and integrated data sets on agricultural, environmental, supply chain, and economic information with variable accuracy and scale; (III) promote collaboration and open community-based development between— (aa) Federal agencies; (bb) National Laboratories; (cc) institutions of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)); (dd) nonprofit institutions; (ee) industry partners; and (ff) other entities deemed appropriate under the memorandum or agreement involved; (IV) support research infrastructure, including new facilities and equipment, and workforce development as the Secretaries determine necessary; (V) conduct collaborative research, development, and demonstration of methods and technologies; and (VI) facilitate relations between public and private entities to carry on the activities of this clause upon the termination of any agreement established under this subparagraph. (iii) Agreements In carrying out the activities under this subparagraph, the Secretaries are authorized to— (I) carry out reimbursable agreements between the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, and other entities in order to maximize the effectiveness of research and development; and (II) collaborate with other Federal agencies, as appropriate. (B) National Science Foundation (i) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, the Secretary and the Director of the National Science Foundation (referred to in this subparagraph as the “Director”) shall coordinate the activities under paragraph (1) through the establishment of memoranda of understanding or other appropriate interagency agreements. Such a memorandum or such an agreement shall require the use of a competitive, merit-reviewed process as appropriate. Activities may include components proposed by Federal agencies, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, and other entities deemed appropriate under the memorandum or agreement. (ii) Coordination In carrying out the activities under paragraph (1), the Secretary and the Director may— (I) conduct collaborative research in a variety of focus areas; (II) promote collaboration and open, community-based development between— (aa) Federal agencies; (bb) institutions of higher education; (cc) community colleges (as defined in section 3167B of the Energy Science Education Enhancement Act (42 U.S.C. 7381c–3)); (dd) area career and technical education schools (as defined in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302)); (ee) nonprofit institutions; (ff) industry partners; and (gg) other entities deemed appropriate under the memorandum or agreement; (III) support research infrastructure, including new facilities, equipment and broadband deployment, as the Secretary and Director determine necessary; (IV) develop translational technologies for commercial utilization; (V) organize education, training, and research initiatives relating to STEM education and workforce development, which may include— (aa) activities supported by the Cooperative Extension System; (bb) industrial partnership programs; (cc) workshops for educating kindergarten through grade 12 teachers on how to increase agricultural literacy; (dd) development of agricultural-based science curricula for kindergarten through grade 12 students; and (ee) distribution of resources for educators to implement curricula; and (VI) facilitate relationships between public and private entities to carry on the activities under this clause upon the termination of any agreement established under this subparagraph. (iii) Agreements In carrying out the activities under this subparagraph, the Secretary and the Director are authorized to— (I) carry out reimbursable agreements between the Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation, and other entities in order to maximize the effectiveness of research and development; and (II) collaborate with other Federal agencies as appropriate. (C) Department of Defense (i) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, the Secretary and the Secretary of Defense (referred to in this subparagraph as the Secretaries) shall coordinate the activities under paragraph (1) through the establishment of memoranda of understanding or other appropriate interagency agreements. Such a memorandum or such an agreement shall require the use of a competitive, merit-reviewed process as appropriate. Activities may include components proposed by Federal agencies, National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, industry, and other entities deemed appropriate under the memorandum or agreement. (ii) Coordination In carrying out the activities under paragraph (1), the Secretaries may— (I) conduct collaborative research in a variety of focus areas, including the areas specified in clause (iv); (II) develop methods to accommodate large voluntary standardized and integrated data sets on agricultural, environmental, supply chain, and economic information with variable accuracy and scale; (III) promote collaboration and secure information sharing with stakeholders that are capable of increasing market-based adoption of technologies developed pursuant to the memoranda of understanding or other appropriate interagency agreements entered into under this subparagraph; (IV) promote collaboration and open community-based development between— (aa) Federal agencies; (bb) National Laboratories; (cc) institutions of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)); (dd) nonprofit institutions; (ee) industry partners; and (ff) other entities deemed appropriate under the memorandum or agreement involved; (V) support research infrastructure, including new facilities and equipment, and workforce development as the Secretaries determine necessary; (VI) conduct collaborative research, development, and demonstration of methods and technologies; and (VII) facilitate relations between public and private entities to carry on the activities of this clause upon the termination of any agreement established under this subparagraph. (iii) Agreements In carrying out the activities under this subparagraph, the Secretaries are authorized to— (I) carry out reimbursable agreements between the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, and other entities in order to maximize the effectiveness of research and development; and (II) collaborate with other Federal agencies, as appropriate. (iv) Focus areas described The focus areas described in this clause are the following: (I) Management strategies for water, energy, soil, forests, and food to reduce scarcity risks to civilian and military operations. (II) Innovations applicable to defense objectives and beneficial to rural agricultural economies, including— (aa) precision agriculture technologies; (bb) drones; (cc) remote sensing; and (dd) positioning, navigation, and timing capabilities. (III) Mitigation of the impacts of chemicals, specifically perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (commonly referred to as PFAS), released through activities carried out by the Department of Defense, to farmland contiguous to military bases. (D) Department of Health and Human Services (i) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this paragraph as the Secretaries) shall coordinate the activities under paragraph (1) through the establishment of memoranda of understanding or other appropriate interagency agreements. Such a memorandum or such an agreement shall require the use of a competitive, merit-reviewed process as appropriate. Activities may include components proposed by Federal agencies, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, industry, and other entities deemed appropriate under the memorandum or agreement. (ii) Coordination In carrying out the activities under paragraph (1), the Secretaries may— (I) conduct collaborative research in a variety of focus areas related to enhancing the capacity of domestic producers to increase production of those crops which are appropriate for natural color additives, including— (aa) which crops are most effectively used in the reliable production of natural color additives; (bb) genetics of such crops; (cc) ways to address barriers to production at scale, including pest and disease pressure, harvesting technologies, and other such areas; and (dd) infrastructure needs relevant to such production and processing, such as juicing or extraction facilities; (II) promote collaboration and information sharing with stakeholders; (III) promote collaboration and open, community-based development between— (aa) Federal agencies; (bb) institutions of higher education; (cc) nonprofit institutions; (dd) industry partners; and (ee) other entities deemed appropriate under the memorandum or agreement involved; (IV) support research infrastructure, including new facilities and equipment, and workforce development as the Secretaries deem necessary; (V) conduct collaborative research, development, and demonstration of methods and technologies; (VI) conduct research on economic impact on the supply chain to transition to natural colors; and (VII) facilitate relations between public and private entities to carry on the activities of this clause upon the termination of any agreement established under this subparagraph. (iii) Agreements In carrying out the activities under this subparagraph, the Secretaries are authorized to— (I) carry out reimbursable agreements between the Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other entities in order to maximize the effectiveness of research and development; and (II) collaborate with other Federal agencies, as appropriate. (E) Other Federal agencies In addition to the memoranda of understanding with Federal agencies described in subparagraphs (A) and (B), the Secretary shall, as appropriate, enter into memoranda of understanding with the heads of other Federal agencies to coordinate the activities under paragraph (1). (3) Report Not later than two years after the date of enactment of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report detailing— (A) interagency coordination between each Federal agency involved in the research and development activities carried out under this section; (B) potential opportunities to expand the technical capabilities of each Federal agency involved in the research and development activities carried out under this section; (C) collaborative research achievements; (D) areas of future mutually beneficial successes; (E) continuation of coordination activities between each Federal agency involved in the research and development activities carried out under this section; (F) potential opportunities for additional memoranda of understanding with other Federal agencies; and (G) any additional information as the Secretary deems appropriate. (4) Research security The activities authorized under this section shall be applied in a manner consistent with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (enacted as division B of the CHIPS Act of 2022 (Public Law 117–167; 42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.))..