Senators propose new law to block China and other adversaries from buying U.S. farmland, citing food and national security.

Bipartisan Effort Seeks to Strengthen Oversight of Foreign Agricultural Land Ownership

In a rare bipartisan alliance, Republican Senator Pete Ricketts and Democratic Senator John Fetterman have introduced legislation aimed at curbing foreign ownership of American farmland, particularly by adversarial nations like China. The proposed Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Improvements Act seeks to close enforcement gaps and modernize reporting processes under the 1978 law that governs foreign land disclosures.

The legislation follows a 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which warned that the current framework of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) is ill-equipped to detect and respond to threats posed by foreign acquisitions of U.S. farmland. The updated bill requires foreign entities with more than a one percent stake in American agricultural land to report holdings to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“American farmland should remain in the hands of American farmers and ranchers, not foreign adversaries,” said Ricketts of Nebraska. “The neighbors who feed us should benefit from land ownership, not Communist China.”

China’s Growing Presence Fuels National Security Concerns

According to USDA data, Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland expanded dramatically—from 13,720 acres in 2010 to 383,935 acres by 2021. China currently controls approximately 350,000 acres of farmland across 27 states. Lawmakers say such holdings risk giving the Chinese Communist Party a strategic foothold in America’s food supply chain.

Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, a co-sponsor of the bill, emphasized the danger. “China has been buying up American farmland in an attempt to infiltrate our agriculture supply chains. Food security is national security, and we cannot give the CCP a foothold,” he stated.

The legislation, co-sponsored by Senators John Cornyn, Roger Wicker, and Representative Don Bacon, mandates information-sharing between the USDA and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). It also establishes a deadline for creating an online tracking system and updates the AFIDA handbook for consistent compliance.

“Having actual processes in place will strengthen the security of our nation in the event nefarious foreign agents, such as the CCP, try to purchase agricultural lands within our nation,” Rep. Bacon added.

Complementary Legislative Pushes Gain Momentum

The AFIDA Improvements Act complements other legislative efforts underway in the Senate. The PASS Act, championed by Senator Mike Rounds, seeks to ban entities from “covered countries”—including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea—from acquiring farmland near U.S. military bases or sensitive facilities. The Not One More Inch or Acre Act, introduced by Senators Tom Cotton, Kevin Cramer, and Katie Britt, would bar China from purchasing any U.S. land entirely.

President Donald Trump has also signaled his support for such measures, previously stating on the campaign trail that he would ban Chinese purchases of American farmland if re-elected.

While a Senate amendment to block farmland purchases by adversarial nations gained bipartisan support in 2023, it failed to become law. Lawmakers now hope the updated AFIDA framework will advance through Congress and serve as a durable safeguard for U.S. agricultural sovereignty and food security.