USDA Announces the Creation of the USDA National Proving Grounds Network to Strengthen U.S. Farm and Ranch Profitability

(Washington, D.C., April 7, 2026) - USDA's Research, Education, and Economics Under Secretary Dr. Scott Hutchins today announced the launch of the USDA National Proving Grounds Network for AgTech (NPG-Ag), a nationwide initiative designed to rigorously evaluate agricultural technologies under real-world U.S. farming and ranching conditions.

"Agricultural research in the United States has long supported the development of practical solutions that improve farm and ranch productivity while strengthening rural economies; indeed, innovation has been our competitive edge and ensured food security since the nation's founding 250 years ago," said Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics Dr. Scott Hutchins. "By establishing a coordinated national research network to objectively validate new and emerging technologies, especially digital and AI-driven technologies, we are helping ensure row crop, specialty crop, and livestock producers all have access to reliable performance data for their investment decisions with a goal to accelerate adoption of AgTech innovations. Moreover, we fully expect that NPG-Ag will expand and facilitate the development and application of emerging technologies across the public and private sector to uniquely benefit U.S. agriculture."

The initiative has been designed to thoroughly test and validate both existing and emerging tools under real-world production conditions, ultimately providing farmers and ranchers with trusted, practical insights that they can rely upon when making technology-investment decisions.

American farmers and ranchers are facing real pressures, and they need confidence that new technologies will deliver tangible value on the ground-whether through lower input costs, reduced labor demands, or greater overall efficiency. The NPG-Ag delivers a targeted solution to this agricultural challenge, meeting today's demands and preparing for tomorrow's needs. This effort is designed to accelerate the U.S. farmer's confidence to adopt innovations that improve profitability and strengthen the long-term resilience and competitiveness of American agriculture. The NPG-Ag will also provide farmers with trusted, data-driven information on technology performance and economic return, helping reduce investment risk and support more informed decisions. Moreover, the network will support the collaborative development of emerging technologies so that U.S. farmers and ranchers are the first to benefit.

The initiative will be spearheaded by USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), working in coordination with other USDA research agencies. Grand Farm, a North Dakota-headquartered AgTech ecosystem and innovation testbed, will serve as the USDA's National Program Manager, alongside land-grant universities across the country that will serve as primary research and testing partners.

"ARS has long played a vital role in driving productivity gains and strengthening the global competitiveness of U.S. agriculture by delivering scientific solutions to our nation's most pressing agricultural challenges," said ARS Administrator Joon Park. "ARS has established a new Director of Digital Agriculture to position the agency for the AI and digital agriculture era-and to support the responsible adoption of novel innovations. This position will help empower our scientists, programs, and external partners to develop, adopt, evaluate, and deploy emerging technologies that enhance public-private innovation and accelerate the research-to-farmer pipeline. As the lead for USDA's NPG-AgTech, ARS remains firmly committed to ensuring that emerging technologies are rigorously evaluated through a transparent, science-based process supporting their adoption."

Agricultural technology companies are invited to enroll their commercial and pre-commercial products with Grand Farm when the request for products is opened to the public. For more information, please visit the USDA National Proving Grounds Network for AgTech website.

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