Over the past decade, foreign investments in U.S. agricultural land have grown. At the start of 2023, foreign persons held an interest in nearly 43.4 million acres of U.S. agricultural land according to the most recent data published by the Farm Service Agency (“FSA”). In response to these types of purchases, federal policymakers have become increasingly active regarding foreign investments in U.S. agriculture, particularly agricultural land.

There is no federal law that imposes a restriction on the amount of farmland that can be foreign owned. However, the 118th Congress (2023-2024) has proposed several measures concerning foreign acquisitions in U.S. agriculture. Specifically, Congress has considered legislation that would restrict certain foreign investments in agricultural land. Some measures seek to amend certain provisions of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (“AFIDA”), the federal reporting system that monitors certain foreign acquisitions in agricultural land. Other federal proposals, such as the House-passed Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024 (H.R. 9456; S. 5007), which was recently discussed in an NALC article available here, seek to provide more oversight authority to USDA on foreign investments in U.S. agriculture.

However, there has been a recent shift in the types of measures recently introduced in Congress on the issue of foreign investments in U.S. agriculture. Specifically, some measures propose to direct USDA and other federal agencies to examine the impact or potential threats foreign investments in the U.S. agriculture have on the industry and U.S. national security. Essentially, these types of measures direct USDA to analyze and prioritize national security as it relates to food and agriculture.

This article is the second of a series discussing recent federal proposals that seeks to increase oversight, limit, or assess the effect of foreign investments in U.S. agriculture.

Agriculture and National Security Act of 2024

Currently, USDA is required to provide Congress an annual report on the data the agency collects from foreign investors who file an AFIDA disclosure. However, there is currently no federal law that requires the agency to conduct an assessment on how foreign investments in U.S. agriculture, including agricultural land, can adversely impact the security of the country’s agricultural sector. The Agriculture and National Security Act of 2024 (S. 4420; H.R. 8522) seeks to require USDA to provide Congress, at least every 2 years, an assessment of any gaps or limitations in national security efforts relating to food and agriculture in the U.S.

Specifically, this assessment would include, from USDA’s perspective, vulnerabilities throughout the food and agricultural sector with regard to:

• Foreign acquisitions of agricultural land and intellectual property, such as patents, plant variety rights, and trade secrets
• Control and/or access to agricultural data
• Science and technology cooperation among foreign nations and the U.S.
• Regulatory policies that are contrary to protecting food and agriculture
• Influence of foreign government-owned business entities
• Supply chain and trade disruptions
• Cybersecurity and emerging technologies
• Agricultural input shortages and U.S. dependence on foreign-sourced inputs

The bill would also require USDA to specify the procedures it has established to address these vulnerabilities, the resources it needs to address these national security vulnerabilities, and provide policy recommendations that could reduce the gaps or limitations in protecting U.S. food and agriculture from adversarial foreign activities.

Further, this proposal directs USDA to prioritize its efforts in identifying and responding to possible foreign threats to the U.S. food and agriculture sector by requiring increases to the number of USDA staff with security clearances and access to classified systems. The measure also directs USDA to establish within USDA a Senior Advisor for National Security. The Senior Advisor would serve as the main advisor on issues relating to national security for USDA, act as the liaison for the agency with the National Security Council and other federal agencies in activities relating to national security, and identify national security vulnerabilities and risk mitigation procedures that are relevant to food and agriculture.

H.R. 8522 has been referred to the House Committee on Agriculture and its companion bill, S. 4420, has been referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry to review the legislation and make possible recommendations for the legislation to Congress.

Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025

Another measure Congress is currently considering is the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (S. 4443) which seeks to require the Director of National Intelligence (“DNI”), along with the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of the Treasury, and USDA, to complete a study on the threat foreign investments in U.S. agricultural land pose on national security. To conduct this study, DNI would be required to analyze the data USDA collects from AFIDA disclosures, particularly from foreign investors of a nonmarket economy country—which countries such as China, Vietnam, and Russia—and from countries that have been identified as a country that poses a risk to national security in the most recent “Annual Threat Assessment” report.

This study must also identify agricultural landholdings that are in close proximity to military installations and critical infrastructure, such as water systems, utility power producers, and communication transmission services. The legislation also directs DNI to assess the national security threats posed by “malign actors” that invest in U.S. agricultural land. DNI would also be required to include its assessment of warning indicators and methods the agency uses to identify potential threats to national security by a foreign adversary’s use of agricultural products “for nefarious ends.” Last, DNI must also identify the resources necessary to counter these threats to national security, particularly U.S. agriculture. If enacted, DNI would be required to provide a briefing of the study to many different congressional committees, such as the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Senate Committee Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and the House Committee on Financial Services.

In June 2024, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence filed a written report of the bill that contains the committee’s recommendations as the bill moves to the Senate floor for debate and voting.

Securing American Agriculture Act

Another measure that seeks to provide Congress a more in-depth understanding of foreign investment in U.S. agriculture is the Securing American Agricultural Act (S. 5277; H.R. 8003), which has been introduced in the House and Senate. This piece of legislation would require USDA to, on an annual basis, submit to the House Ag Committee and the Senate Ag Committee an assessment on the United States’ dependency on critical agricultural products or inputs that could be exploited by the Chinese government in the event it “weaponizes any such dependency.”

The definitions contained in any piece of legislation are important because it provides context to how the words or phrases are to be understood throughout the legislative text. The proposal defines “critical inputs” includes “all farm management, agronomic, and field-applied production inputs,” including:

• Crop production chemicals
• Seed and feed, including its components, such as vitamins and minerals
• Veterinary drugs and vaccines
• Fertilizers
• Fuel
• Equipment, machinery, and technology

Under this federal proposal, USDA would be required to address the U.S. production capacity of the critical inputs listed above. The agency would also be required to identify any current and potential narrowing or “bottlenecks” in the supply chain that could be exploited by China. Further, the measure directs USDA to identify measures or policies that could reduce the United States’ dependency on China for critical inputs, including recommendations that may reduce barriers to expand onshoring or nearshoring the production of critical inputs. Overall, this legislation, if enacted, would direct USDA to determine whether the U.S. has the capacity to increase production of critical inputs, what limitations prevent expanding production of these products, and whether the United States’ dependency on importing these inputs could be used by the Chinese government to threaten U.S. food and agricultural security.

The House version of the Securing American Agriculture Act has been referred to the Committee on Agriculture and the Senate version of the bill has been referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry for consideration.

Conclusion

Over the past few years, Congress has considered several proposals that seek to limit and increase oversight of certain foreign investments in U.S. agriculture, particularly agricultural land. While Congress continues to consider these types of measures, some recent federal proposals introduced in Congress seek to examine and analyze potential threats foreign investments in U.S. agriculture may have on the country’s national security as it relates to food and the agricultural industry. Because agriculture is one of sixteen critical infrastructure sectors in the U.S.—which are sectors that are critical to the national public health or safety—these measures seek to provide Congress with a comprehensive understanding of the impacts foreign investments have on national security and how to address any vulnerabilities in the agricultural sector. As Congress continues to consider the measures discussed above, it is possible one or more of these measures, or some form of these measures, could be added to the House (H.R. 8467) and/or Senate (Majority proposal/Minority proposal) 2024 Farm Bill proposals.

To read S. 4420 and H.R. 8522, click here and here.

To read S. 4443, click here.

To read S. 5277 and H.R. 8003, click here and here.

For more NALC resources on foreign ownership of ag land, click here.

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