Cybersecurity in Agriculture Act of 2025
This bill, titled the Cybersecurity in Agriculture Act of 2025, would amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to create a new program that establishes five regional Agriculture Cybersecurity Centers. The Secretary of Agriculture (through the Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, NIFA) would run a competitive grants/cooperative agreement program to create these centers, build a national network, and designate one entity to coordinate the network. The centers would focus on cybersecurity research, development, education, and collaboration across seed, horticulture, animal agriculture, and the broader agriculture supply chain, with a strong emphasis on defense and resilience against cyber threats. Each regional center would conduct research, operate a security operations center for the agriculture sector, develop cybersecurity tools and technologies, build live testbeds, run attack/defense exercises, provide training, and foster regional R&D collaboration. The bill also requires centers to design activities specifically to prevent cyberattacks from certain foreign countries (China, North Korea, Russia, Iran) and other countries deemed appropriate in consultation with Homeland Security. Eligible entities are land-grant colleges or universities with programs in both food/ag sciences and cybersecurity and a track record of coordinating with regional industry, government, and other stakeholders to strengthen agricultural cybersecurity and workforce development. The bill would authorize $25 million for each fiscal year 2026 through 2030.
Key Points
- 1Establishment of 5 Regional Agriculture Cybersecurity Centers: The Secretary, via NIFA, would fund and oversee five regional centers to research, develop, and educate on agriculture cybersecurity, covering seed, horticulture, animal agriculture, and the supply chain.
- 2National network and coordinating entity: The centers would form a national network, with one eligible entity designated to coordinate the overall network.
- 3Center duties: Each regional center would:
- 4- Research cybersecurity for the agriculture sector and develop situational awareness for threats.
- 5- Create a security operations center to analyze threats and recommend mitigations.
- 6- Develop domain-specific cybersecurity technologies (e.g., intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, access control, device authentication, secure networks).
- 7- Build live testbeds to test and refine technologies.
- 8- Conduct attack/defense exercises and develop education and training programs.
- 9- Facilitate a regional R&D collaboration network.
- 10- Ensure research and tools address specific international threat actors (China, North Korea, Russia, Iran) and other countries deemed appropriate in consultation with Homeland Security.
- 11Eligible entities: Land-grant colleges or universities that have programs in both food/ag sciences and cybersecurity and that coordinate with regional partners (industry, cooperatives, government, etc.) to improve security, resiliency, and workforce development in agriculture cybersecurity.
- 12Funding: Authorization of $25 million per fiscal year from 2026 through 2030 to carry out the section.
- 13Administration: Implementation via the Secretary of Agriculture in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security; activities align with national security and critical infrastructure considerations for the agriculture sector.