Farm Bill prevents American farmland from falling into the wrong hands

Before I voted for the Farm Bill – which passed out of the House Agriculture Committee in May – I held many town halls with farmers and producers as part of my 36 County Tour and Feenstra Agriculture Tour to ensure that the priorities of our agricultural community were included in this vital legislation. 

In my conversations with producers, I repeatedly heard about the need for strong crop insurance protections, more opportunities to access new export markets, and foreign animal disease prevention and response. These provisions – and many others – were incorporated into the House version of the Farm Bill as well as 10 bills that I specifically introduced and 15 others that I helped introduce and supported. The final product represents the strong investment in Rural America and American agriculture in decades.

But one of the most frequent concerns that I heard from our farming community was China and other foreign adversaries buying up our farmland. I share these very same concerns, especially since our farmland in Iowa is some of the most fertile, valuable, and productive in the world. We do not want this land falling into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, North Korea, Russia, Iran, or any other enemy of our country. 

That’s why I introduced the Foreign Agricultural Restrictions to Maintain Local Agriculture and National Defense (FARMLAND) Act – which was included in the Farm Bill – to enhance oversight of foreign land ownership in the United States. For far too long, the federal government – and the Biden-Harris administration in particular – has not enforced the laws on the books to protect American farmland from acquisition by our foreign adversaries. That needs to change. 

Fortunately, this legislation develops new oversight measures for foreign farmland purchases, requires the Secretary of Agriculture to report the threats of foreign acquisition of American farmland to Congress, and punishes foreign investors who fail to disclose farmland purchases. It also directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a public database of all farmland owned by foreign governments and other entities, and limits foreign-owned or operated land from participating in Farm Service Agency programs like commodity programs and other initiatives.

Under current law, the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) requires foreign investors who acquire, transfer, or hold any interest in American farmland to report holdings and transactions to the Secretary of Agriculture. However, enforcement of AFIDA has been virtually nonexistent as federal agencies do not have explicit investigative power. As a result, farmland purchases by China alone have skyrocketed in recent years and companies with ties to the Chinese Communist Party have bought land mere miles from sensitive military sites, including near an Air Force base in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The FARMLAND Act ensures that we protect our farmland from our enemies and defend our national security by enforcing our laws, increasing transparency of land purchases, and holding those who violate our laws accountable.

Last year, I also helped send a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack regarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s serious lack of accountability and oversight over foreign purchases of American farmland. In a USDA memo obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, it was revealed that the USDA failed to assess a single penalty on foreign entities who did not properly disclose their American farmland acquisitions, which is required under AFIDA. 

Additionally, this lack of accountability was not included in USDA’s annual AFIDA report to Congress. It is absolutely critical that the USDA is accurately monitoring foreign purchases of American farmland, which is one of our most vital assets in rural Iowa, and taking necessary actions to protect our farmland.

If we fail to actively monitor foreign purchases of our farmland, we jeopardize our national, economic, energy, and food security. It’s why I worked to include new protections and oversight mechanisms in the Farm Bill to keep American farmland in the hands of American farmers. As a strong advocate for stopping our adversaries – like China – from buying our farmland, I will continue to lead the fight to protect our farmers, farmland and rural communities.