Skip to main content
HR 5208 115th Congress House Agriculture and Food Agricultural practices and innovations Agricultural research General Native American affairs matters Government information and archives Government studies and investigations Higher education Horticulture and plants Public-private cooperation Research administration and funding

Seeds for the Future Act

Introduced: March 7, 2018 Introduced by: Pocan, Mark Democratic · Wisconsin See on congress.gov
This bill died when the 115th Congress ended
It never became law before the 115th Congress (2017–2018) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Mar 28, 2018
Referred to the Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research.
Mar 7, 2018
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Mar 7, 2018
Introduced in House
 Ask about this bill AI · grounded in the bill text

Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.

AI answers can be imperfect; always confirm against the full bill text.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Seeds for the Future Act

This bill amends the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act to require the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ensure that at least $50 million of USDA grant funding is used each year for competitive research grants that support the development of public cultivars.

A "cultivar" is a variety of plant that has been intentionally selected for use in cultivation because of its improved characteristics. A "public cultivar" is the commercially available uniform end product of a publicly funded breeding program that has been sufficiently tested to demonstrate improved characteristics and stable performance.

The bill also amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish a public cultivar research activities coordinator within USDA to coordinate research activities relating to the breeding of public cultivars.

What's happening now March 28, 2018

Referred to the Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research.

 Related & companion bills 1
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 2
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 5208: Seeds for the Future Act. 115th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/115-HR-5208/
MLA
"H.R. 5208: Seeds for the Future Act." 115th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/115-HR-5208/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 5208, 115th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/115-HR-5208/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 5208: Seeds for the Future Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/115-HR-5208/)
Report a problem