Senators Want USDA to Keep Closer Eye on Foreign Investment in Farmland

Sens. Mike Braun, R-Ind., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., on Jan. 25 introduced a bill aimed at improving the tracking of foreign investment in U.S. farmland.

The legislation would require USDA to develop a plan to allow foreign buyers of U.S. farmland to report their transactions online. The agency currently uses paper forms to collect the data. The bill would also require USDA to develop a data-sharing agreement with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., make better use of Farm Service Agency data, and update the handbook that contains foreign investment reporting instructions.

The legislation was prompted by a recent Government Accountability Office report that said USDA’s collection, tracking and sharing of such information is flawed (see 2401190069). It also follows the recent revelation that a Chinese businessman was able to buy almost 200,000 acres of Oregon farmland in 2015 without disclosing the purchase to the federal government (see 2401160079).

Foreign ownership of U.S. farmland has "skyrocketed" in recent years, the Braun-Tester announcement said, citing USDA data. Foreign investors have purchased an average of 2.9 million acres a year since 2017, up from 800,000 acres a year from 2009 to 2015. Ownership by Chinese entities and individuals rose from 13,720 acres in 2010 to 383,935 acres in 2021.

“Many Americans are worried about adversarial foreign countries buying up American farmland and jeopardizing our food supply chain,” Braun said. “This bipartisan bill will improve the USDA’s system for collecting information on purchases of farmland by foreign nationals to better identify transactions that should have been reported but weren’t.”

The bill has 12 co-sponsors: Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Roger Marshall, R-Kan.; John Fetterman, D-Pa.; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.; Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Katie Britt, R-Ala.; Todd Young, R-Ind.; Roger Wicker, R-Miss.; and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.

Tester has also proposed legislation to prohibit China and other "foreign adversaries" from buying American farmland. Such a restriction was included in the Senate version of the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (see 2307260029), but it did not make it into the final NDAA that Congress passed in December.

Braun on Jan. 25 endorsed a bill in his home state that would prohibit foreign adversaries from buying or leasing Indiana farmland.