The Supporting Urban and Innovative Farming Act of 2023 strengthens the Department of Agriculture's Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production by expanding its responsibilities and funding. The bill authorizes the office to provide technical assistance to urban farmers on topics including business incorporation, zoning regulations, and conservation techniques specific to urban farming, and it allows the office to enter into cooperative agreements with nonprofits, agricultural cooperatives, tribes, and producer networks. The legislation establishes a competitive grant program awarding funds to support urban and innovative agricultural projects like community gardens, rooftop farms, indoor farms, and controlled-environment agriculture, with priority given to applicants who plan to distribute microgrants to individual farmers and those serving areas with limited access to fresh food. The bill allocates fifty million dollars annually from the Commodity Credit Corporation for fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to support these activities, and it directs the National Agricultural Statistics Service to collect and report data on urban and indoor farming operations biennially with fourteen million dollars authorized for that effort over the same period.
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