Senators Luján, Moran Reintroduce Bipartisan Farmer-to-Farmer Education Act
(Washington, D.C.) – Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) have reintroduced the Farmer-to-Farmer Education Act (S. 1769). This bill, written in collaboration with American Farmland Trust (AFT) and the National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers), would facilitate farmer-to-farmer conservation education and successful practice adoption by building capacity and increasing support for farmer-led education networks, particularly for historically underserved producers.
Conservation practices–like cover crops, nutrient management, or rotational grazing–benefit farm and ranch operations by reducing input costs and increasing resilience to extreme weather. They also benefit society through improved water and air quality and other ecosystem services. Yet these crucial conservation practices remain underutilized by farmers. As of the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture, cover crops—a key conservation practice—were only planted on 7% of eligible cropland acres. Farmers face numerous barriers to adopting such conservation practices, including cost, risk, lack of access to proper equipment, and insecure land tenure. In a 2022 Young Farmers survey of over 10,000 young farmers across the country, 15% of respondents cited acquiring necessary “farming skills” as their top challenge.
Traditional technical and financial assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) can help overcome some of these barriers. But farmer-to-farmer education provides a critical complement to that essential support, enabling farmers to overcome adoption barriers by having someone with firsthand experience share the benefits, challenges, and lessons learned that will lead to successful, long-term conservation practice adoption. In fact, a recent AFT survey revealed that over 50% of producers surveyed sought conservation education from another farmer. Many farmers are interested in providing, or receiving this support from other producers, but do not know where to start. This bill would address this gap by building capacity for existing peer-to-peer networks and supporting the creation of new ones.
“Farming is deeply ingrained in New Mexico’s history and culture, with communities that have cultivated the land for generations. Local farmers are skilled at managing challenges like unpredictable weather, drought, and flooding. However, existing programs often fall short in providing the support and guidance needed during these times,” said Senator Luján. “The bipartisan Farmer to Farmer Education Act will help improve coordination between local farmer-to-farmer networks and the USDA and NRCS. Strengthening this connection will ensure farmers receive timely, specialized information to better protect their crops and livestock.”
“Farmers and ranchers across the country face many conservation challenges, which limits their access to conservation technical assistance,” said Senator Moran. “This legislation would allow farmer-to-farmer groups to develop cooperative agreements with USDA to share conservation concepts and new practices.”
“When it comes to adopting conservation practices, farmers trust information and guidance from other farmers,” said American Farmland Trust’s Senior Policy Manager for Conservation and Energy Samantha Levy. “We applaud Sen. Luján and Sen. Moran for introducing a bipartisan bill that would enable more farmers to provide practical, experience-based assistance to their peers. This would supplement the essential support producers receive from NRCS, nonprofit conservation organizations and districts, and others to successfully implement practices critical to the resilience and viability of their operations.”
"We learn best from people who are like us. The Farmer to Farmer Education Act would help connect producers to support each other's on-farm conservation efforts," said Ben Knuth, Agriculture Policy Manager at National Wildlife Federation. "As complements to USDA's existing conservation technical assistance, these learning networks offer informal opportunities to learn about improving soil, water, and wildlife outcomes."
“We would like to thank Senator Moran and Senator Luján for cosponsoring the Farmer to Farmer Education Act,” said Dan Meyerhoff, Executive Director of the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts and Jennifer Simmelink, Executive Director of the Kansas Soil Health Alliance. “Our organizations have partnered on multiple farmer to farmer efforts including encouraging and promoting farmer-led small group discussions in counties across the state, multi-county farmer-led field days, and establishing a statewide one-on-one peer coaching network. Currently, these efforts to coordinate and promote farmer-led soil health education are primarily funded through grant programs that last for three years. This bill would provide a reliable and consistent pool of funding to help accelerate valuable farmer to farmer learning, and lead to widespread, lasting adoption of soil health practices across Kansas and the United States.”
“I learn the most about farming from my peers, and always have. Since 2014, I’ve grown my knowledge and skills in farming with the help of friends and farming mentors and at the end of 2024, I purchased farmland with my family, launching our first program this spring. As I’m starting a collaborative farm business, I’ve been fortunate enough to benefit from a farmer-to-farmer training program at a farm nearby, Chispas Farm. Simultaneously, the Director of Chispas is serving as my formal mentor, through a different program that is funded by the USDA. We both get compensated for our time, and I get a formalized structure to receive knowledge and support. I am applying what I learn in these programs directly into our farming operation, helping us improve soil, water, and ecosystem outcomes, while ensuring we can build a viable farm business. I hope to see more of these networks and resources support my peers,” said Ana Moran, co-owner and operator of Telesfor Farm, Policy Development Manager at the National Young Farmers Coalition.
The Farmer-to-Farmer Education Act of 2025 will facilitate peer-to-peer learning by enabling NRCS to enter into cooperative agreements with non-profits, institutions of higher learning, states, conservation districts, tribes, and others. These agreement holders would be responsible for referring farmers to existing farmer-to-farmer networks, promoting peer-to-peer learning events like soil health field days, identifying and filling gaps in existing networking opportunities, and connecting farmer and rancher mentors with mentees while paying them for their time and expertise.
To see the full list of endorsing organizations, please click here.
###
The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) is a national grassroots network of young farmers changing policy and shifting power to equitably resource the new generation of working farmers. Visit Young Farmers on the web at www.youngfarmers.org, and on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms No Food® message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families.
