By Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch
Lawmakers approved a bill to reauthorize the federal Grain Standards Act, with key updates aimed at modernizing the grain inspection and grading process.
The bill was passed via a voice vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday evening. Lawmakers said passing the bill ensures the U.S. grain market, and specifically its ability to export grain overseas, can continue operating at the “gold standard.”
The U.S. Grain Standards Act, first authorized in 1916, gives the federal government the authority to establish marketing standards and procedures for inspection and weighting grains and oilseeds.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson said the U.S. Grain Standards Reauthorization Act of 2025 plays a “vital role” in the agricultural system, and noted the law ensures “safety, quality and a standard of excellence for the American grain industry.”
The bill reauthorizes the standards in the act that are set to expire at the end of September.
“If we want America to maintain its status as the safest, most abundant grain supply in the world, reauthorization of this act … is absolutely essential,” Thompson said on the House floor Monday.
The Pennsylvania Republican, who sponsored the bill, said the grain standards act makes sure farmers get a fair price on their grain, which includes crops like corn, sorghum, wheat, barley and soybeans. Similarly, he said, the standards enforced by the act help foreign buyers feel confident in the quality of American commodities.
In addition to extending the standards through fiscal year 2030, the bill directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to “prioritize the adoption of improved grain grading technology.”
Grain grading is the process to evaluate the quality of grain, based on specific criteria, which also determines its price.
Neither Thompson nor the bill detailed what these technology improvements might be, but the bill gives USDA the authority and flexibility to invest in technological upgrades for the process.
According to the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the bill, the reauthorization would allocate $23 million annually over the 2026-2030 period to cover the cost of these technological upgrades, as well as the typical procedures of the bill.
The 2020 reauthorization of the bill also authorized a $23 million annual budget.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Democrat from Kansas, also spoke in favor of the bill Monday and said its calls for technological improvements would create an opportunity to “make the process more accurate, efficient and consistent.”
“Foreign grain buyers should be confident in the process we have in place to ensure that our experts are adequately inspected,” Davids said. “The bipartisan U.S. Grain Standards Reauthorization Act of 2025 is critical for the global grain trade.”
House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig, D-Minnesota, said in a July 22 hearing on the bill that farmers’ work always has uncertainty, but noted that uncertainty was heightened with the ongoing tariffs initiated by President Donald Trump.
Craig said the updates to the bill will help USDA focus on modernization, which will keep the U.S. as the “gold standard” in grain inspection and in turn support the sale of grain to foreign countries.
“The bill’s entire intention is to help ensure grain can get from our farms and grain elevators, onto ships bound for overseas markets,” Craig said.
The 2025 bill additionally changes the fund to a trust fund, which the CBO analysis said would not be “substantively different” from the current fund and therefore would “not have a budgetary effect.”
Grain Inspection Advisory Committee members would also be allowed to serve until a new member is appointed, under the new bill. Currently, committee members serve staggered, three-year terms.
Thompson closed his comments by noting that a lapse in authorization of the bill, which expires at the end of the month, would disrupt the grain market and cost the farm economy “more than $70 million a day.”
The National Grain and Feed Association celebrated the progress of the bill in a press release and the group’s President and CEO Mike Seyfert called it a “must pass bill.”
“This bill strengthens the reliability and competitiveness of U.S. grain by promoting modernization and minimizing red tape,” Seyfert said. “We now urge the Senate to act swiftly so this important legislation can be sent to President Trump for signature.”
This story was originally produced by Iowa Capital Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Kansas Reflector, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
