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.

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.