WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. lawmakers recently introduced the Foreign Agricultural Restrictions to Maintain Local Agriculture and National Defense (FARMLAND) Act, a bipartisan bill designed to protect American farmland from foreign ownership.

Introduced by U.S. Reps. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa and Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Michigan, the bill seeks to strengthen national security and food supply protection, which would authorize the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review all purchases or leases of American farmland by foreign entities that exceed $5,000,000, or 320 acres.

Lawmakers said the bill would also require the USDA Secretary and the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security to publish an annual report outlining any threats or national security risks of foreign investment in American farmland; direct the USDA Secretary to develop a public database of all farmland owned by foreign governments and other entities; and limit foreign-owned or operated land from participating in Farm Service Agency programs like the commodity programs.

Feenstra said, “It is in the interest of the United States to review purchases of American farmland by foreign entities to protect our farms and agricultural production from our foreign adversaries, especially China. But for far too long, our government has repeatedly failed to enforce the laws on the books, monitor foreign purchases of our farmland, or assess financial penalties on those who break our laws.

“Born and raised in rural Iowa, I firmly believe that American farmland belongs to American farmers, and I will continue to lead the fight to protect our farmers and ensure that our farms are passed onto the next generation,” he added.

McDonald Rivet said, “Allowing China or other foreign competitors to buy up large swaths of American farmland puts our national security and food supply at risk.”

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, recently introduced companion legislation in the U.S. Senate: “Through the FARMLAND Act, I’m drawing a line in the sand to overhaul this flawed way of doing things, increase reporting and transparency, strengthen oversight of the influence of our foreign adversaries, and force the sale of foreign-owned land. It’s time to show the world we will do what it takes to protect our agriculture industry, our national security, and our food security.”

Under current law, the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) of 1978 requires foreign investors who acquire, transfer, or hold any interest in American farmland to report holdings and transactions to the USDA Secretary. However, enforcement of AFIDA has been virtually nonexistent as federal agencies do not enjoy explicit investigative power, lawmakers said.

According to the USDA’s latest AFIA Report, 45.85 million acres of U.S. agricultural land were held by foreign investors in 2023, which represents 3.61 percent of total privately-held agricultural land in the United States. This marks a 1.58-million-acre (3.6 percent) increase from 2022, and a five million-acre (12.2 percent) rise since a previous analysis by Danny Munch, an American Farm Bureau Federation economist, based on 2021 data.

Canadian investors own the largest portion of foreign-held U.S. agricultural land with 33.5 percent (15.35 million acres) of the total. Following Canada, investors from the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany own 0.41 percent (5.2 million acres), 0.22 percent (2.7 million acres), 0.21 percent (2.6 million acres), and 0.20 percent (2.5 million acres) of U.S. agricultural land, respectively.

“To highlight the lack of oversight, China’s ownership of American farmland increased by 30 percent between 2019 and 2020 alone, and we’ve seen purchases mere miles from sensitive military sites,” Feenstra said. “Modernizing the AFIDA reporting process through the FARMLAND Act provides the needed national security that our farmers and rural communities deserve.”

According to a 2023 article in Forbes China owned less than 400,000 acres of U.S. Farmland. 

By state, Texas has the largest quantity of foreign-held U.S. agricultural land at 5.7 million acres. Maine has the second-largest quantity of foreign-held U.S. agricultural land at 3.5 million acres.

According to Munch, Ohio’s foreign-owned farmland represents 2.7 percent of all privately-held agricultural land, slightly below the national average of 3.6 percent. He added that most foreign-owned land in Ohio is linked to renewable energy projects, which account for 55 percent of increased foreign land ownership since 2010.

Ernst said she introduced the FARMLAND Act to amend the AFIDA, which was established to develop a nationwide system for collecting information on foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land. She added that this new 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, the bill will increase reporting and transparency and strengthen oversight by: Modernizing the AFIDA reporting process to better track foreign land ownership, which includes: 1) An online submission process for reporting land ownership, which would replace the outdated paper-based system; 2) an increased civil penalties for non-compliance against individuals or entities that fail to comply with AFIDA reporting requirements; and 3) the development of a publicly-accessible database of agricultural land owned by foreign persons.

Katie Hall, Iowa Soybean Association senior director of advocacy, told Farm World, “The Iowa Soybean Association supports increased oversight and reporting of foreign agricultural land and business transactions in the U.S. At the state level, Iowa farmers were vocal on this issue and benefited from legislation passed in 2024 (in Iowa) that strengthens the reporting and ownership requirements to ensure transparency of Iowa’s land ownership.”

Ethan Lane, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association senior vice president of government affairs, told Farm World, “Foreign land purchases are a significant concern for our members, but just as important is the threat of massive land buyouts by corporate investors that forever pull farmland out of agricultural production. Regardless of who is trying to take it from them, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is working to help keep farmland in the hands of farmers.”