Cybersecurity Policy Report, Farmers Would Own Data Collected by Their Equipment Under Senate Bill, (Sep 24, 2026)
Data collected or generated by agricultural equipment would be owned by the farmer or rancher operating the equipment and would be protected from sale or use by third parties under legislation introduced yesterday in the Senate.
The Agricultural Data Privacy Act (S.B. 5459, 119th Cong. (2026)) was introduced by Sen. Pete Ricketts (R., Neb.), who said it was modeled on a Nebraska state law enacted in April.
“Excellent agriculture requires excellent knowledge,” Sen. Ricketts said in a news release. “Farmers and ranchers who work a lifetime to build their knowledge should own it. It is only fair that we protect their data and intellectual property. This bill would do just that.”
“The purpose of this Act is to protect the economic value of agricultural data and the autonomy of agricultural producers by protecting the sale of agricultural data and maintaining the security of agricultural data through reasonable safeguards,” according to the bill.
“An agricultural producer is the owner, and has control, of the agricultural data that originates from the farm, land, device, or equipment of that agricultural producer,” it says. It would require written consent from the farmer or rancher before the data could be used or sold.
The bill was endorsed by the Nebraska Corn Growers Association and Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation.
“Nebraska Farm Bureau has been a longtime supporter and leader in pushing policy that protects the massive quantity of data modern farms and ranches produce,” said Mark McHargue, the federation’s president. “The protection of this data is vital both economically and from a national security level.”
News: FederalLegislation DataPrivacy