U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, joined members of the Senate Agriculture and Armed Services Committees in leading the bipartisan overhaul of the current flawed oversight system that has allowed China’s malign influence to threaten American food security and national security by buying up agricultural land in the United States. U.S. Reps. Randy Feenstra , R-Iowa, and Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Mich., are leading the legislation in the House.
Foreign land ownership of U.S. land has increased by 85% since 2010, and although Iowa has laws on the books to guard against foreign investment, the federal level lacks updated measures and procedures to effectively protect all of America’s farmland.
“Food security is national security, so ownership of our farmland is a fundamental issue. We can’t let countries like China gain control over the land that sustains us,” Slotkin said.“This legislation ensures oversight of foreign purchases of farmland, safeguarding it from falling into the hands of malicious actors. When we protect our farmers, we protect the backbone of America.”
The Foreign Agricultural Restrictions to Maintain Local Agriculture and National Defense (FARMLAND) Act to amend the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) of 1978, which was established to develop a nationwide system for collecting information on foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land. This legislation would also expand the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ (CFIUS) authority to include a new focus on food and agriculture to better safeguard U.S. national security interests.
Specifically, it will increase reporting and transparency and strengthen oversight over the influence of our foreign adversaries by:
- Modernizing the AFIDA reporting process to better track foreign land ownership, which includes:
- An online submission process for reporting land ownership, which would replace the outdated paper-based system.
- Increased civil penalties for non-compliance against individuals or entities that fail to comply with AFIDA reporting requirements.
- The development of a publicly accessible database of agricultural land owned by foreign persons.
- Prohibiting foreign-owned or operated land from being eligible for Farm Service Agency programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
- Giving Congress more oversight of the national security risks of foreign purchase and management of U.S. agricultural land.
- Updating the authority of CFIUS to better consider agriculture needs and adding both the Secretary of Agriculture and Commissioner of Food and Drugs as permanent members.
- Requiring CFIUS to review a purchase or lease by a foreign entity that exceeds $5 million or 320 acres of land over the last three years and consider retroactive divestment of real estate when necessary.
Read the full bill text here.
