Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Oct 29, 2019
ARPA-Terra Act of 2019
This bill establishes within the Department of Agriculture the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Terra (ARPA-Terra) to (1) overcome the long-term and high-risk technological barriers in the development of agricultural technologies that enhance export competitiveness, environmental sustainability, and resilience to extreme weather and infectious disease; and (2) ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced agricultural technologies that increase economic opportunities for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.
ARPA-Terra must award grants to institutions of higher education and other entities to achieve its goals, including to accelerate early-stage research on agricultural technologies.
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ARPA-Terra must also implement agriculture technology projects that
identify and promote revolutionary advances in fundamental sciences;
translate scientific discoveries and cutting-edge inventions into technological innovations; and
accelerate transformational technological advances in areas that, due to technical and financial uncertainty, industry is not likely to undertake without federal assistance.
Source last updated: Dec 3, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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