Farm Tech Act

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Defunct
• Most recent activity date: 2025-01-03

Risk subdomain coverage

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Governance failure
• Lack of capability or robustness

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has minimal coverage of risk domains, with limited focus on AI system safety and robustness (7.3) through accuracy and performance standards. There is implicit coverage of governance (6.5) through the establishment of a certification program. Most risk domains are not addressed as this is a narrow sectoral certification framework.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Agriculture, Mining, Construction & Manufacturing

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document exclusively governs the Agriculture sector, establishing a certification program for AI software used in agricultural production tasks including autonomous vehicles, livestock care, pesticide application, and veterinary purposes.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding legislative act introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that mandates the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a certification program with specific requirements and regulatory authority.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Mr. Feenstra; Mr. Valadao; Mr. Sorensen; United States Congress; House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture
• Summary: The bill was introduced by Representatives Feenstra, Valadao, and Sorensen in the House of Representatives and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, indicating these are the proposing actors.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Developer, AI_Deployer
• Summary: The document targets developers and deployers of AI software used in agricultural production tasks. While no specific entities are named, the targets are those who create or use AI software for tasks like self-driving agricultural vehicles, manure application, pesticide application, livestock care, and veterinary purposes.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Agriculture; U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Summary: The Secretary of Agriculture is explicitly designated as the authority to establish the certification program, certify software, and prescribe necessary regulations.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Agriculture; U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Summary: The Secretary of Agriculture is implicitly responsible for monitoring compliance with certification standards, as the entity that certifies software and ensures it meets performance and regulatory standards.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily focuses on the Verify and Validate stage through certification requirements, and the Deploy stage through the establishment of a certification program that must be completed before deployment. It also implicitly covers Operate and Monitor through ongoing compliance with performance standards.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

• Task-specific AI

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly mentions 'artificial intelligence' and 'software that uses artificial intelligence' but does not define AI models, AI systems, or distinguish between different types of AI. No compute thresholds, foundation models, or specific AI architectures are mentioned. The focus is on task-specific AI applications in agriculture.