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Bills in Congress could push ag tech to next level

Agricultural technology advancements and adoption could be accelerated by federal legislation.

U.S. Congressman Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Iowa, says he was inspired to come up with the Precision Ag Loan Program Act after last year’s Farm Progress Show.

“We have all this great technology out there and and producers say it would be great to have but (they) can’t afford it. So I said we’ve got to change that.”

The bill would allow USDA’s Farm Service Agency to offer $500,000 loans at two percent interest for the purchasing of precision ag equipment like geospatial mapping and data management software.

“And this is a way that farmers can buy this technology at a low interest rate.”

Feenstra has also helped introduce the Advancing Cutting Edge Agriculture Act to foster innovative ag research and development at USDA.

Feenstra says from foreign animal disease mitigation to increased crop yields, cutting-edge agricultural research and innovation will help make farmers more profitable, productive, and competitive in global markets.