Foreign states and other entities now own nearly 45 million acres of agricultural land in the United States. Today, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the National Farm Security Action Plan, an effort to protect America’s farmland from such land acquistion.
Joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, Rollins said:
American agriculture is not just about feeding our families but about protecting our nation and standing up to foreign adversaries who are buying our farmland, stealing our research, and creating dangerous vulnerabilities in the very systems that sustain us.
The Plan seeks to take action in the following areas:
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- Secure and Protect American Farmland – Address U.S. foreign farmland ownership from adversaries head on. Total transparency. Tougher penalties.
- Enhance Agricultural Supply Chain Resilience – Refocus domestic investment into key manufacturing sectors and identify non-adversarial partners to work with when domestic production is not available. Plan for contingencies.
- Protect U.S. Nutrition Safety Net from Fraud and Foreign Exploitation – Billions have been stolen by foreign crime rings. That ends now.
- Defend Agricultural Research and Innovation – No more sweetheart deals or secret pacts with hostile nations. American ideas stay in America.
- Put America First in Every USDA Program – From farm loans to food safety, every program will reflect the America First agenda.
- Safeguard Plant and Animal Health – Crack down on bio-threats before they ever reach our soil.
- Protect Critical Infrastructure – Farms, food, and supply chains are national security assets—and will be treated as such.
Though Chinese investors own less American farmland than those of some other countries, such as Canada, they do own about 265,000 acres, much of it suspiciously near US military bases.
Rollins said the USDA will partner with state leaders and members of Congress to implement executive action and legislation to prevent “countries of concern or other foreign adversaries” from purchasing farmland.
For more, see the USDA website.