Ricketts and Fetterman Join Forces to Combat China's Bid for U.S. Farmland Acquisition
Senators unite across party lines to bolster oversight of foreign farmland ownership, citing food security as critical to national security amid rising Chinese investment.
In a rare show of bipartisan cooperation, Senators Pete Ricketts, a Republican from Nebraska, and John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, have joined forces with several colleagues to introduce new legislation aimed at strengthening oversight of foreign ownership of American farmland. The proposed Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure (AFIDA) Improvements Act comes in response to growing concerns about the extent of foreign, and particularly Chinese, investment in the United States’ agricultural sector.
The legislation would require foreign individuals or entities holding more than a one percent interest in U.S. agricultural land to report their holdings to federal authorities. This measure is designed to address shortcomings identified by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which recently found that existing AFIDA provisions were not sufficient to monitor or counter foreign purchases of agricultural property. Senator Ricketts emphasized the importance of the issue, stating, “American farmland should remain in the hands of American farmers and ranchers, not foreign adversaries.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville, another co-sponsor from Alabama, echoed these national security concerns, highlighting China’s increasing footprint in U.S. agriculture. “Over the past several decades, 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,” Tuberville commented. The bill also seeks to improve coordination between the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), requiring regular updates to key procedural handbooks and mandating the creation of an online AFIDA system for greater transparency.
Representative Don Bacon, who introduced a companion measure in the House, underscored the practical impact of the proposed changes: “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.” The legislative push is rooted in GAO recommendations meant to modernize the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978. Currently, any transaction involving the sale of American agricultural land to a foreign entity must be reported to the USDA, but critics argue current protocols do not provide the level of scrutiny necessary for today’s globalized economy.
Statistics provided by the USDA illustrate the magnitude of the issue: as of 2021, foreign investors owned over 40 million acres of agricultural land across the United States. Within just over a decade, Chinese ownership alone grew more than twentyfold—from 13,720 acres in 2010 to nearly 384,000 acres in 2021. The introduction of the AFIDA Improvements Act marks the latest step in a series of efforts to bolster national security through closer monitoring of such investments.
Discussions around restricting foreign ownership, particularly by entities linked to China, have gained momentum in Congress this year. Several bills are under consideration, including the PASS Act, which would bar entities associated with China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran from purchasing agricultural land near military bases or sensitive security sites. Meanwhile, proposals like the Not One More Inch or Acre Act seek to eliminate Chinese ownership of U.S. real estate entirely.
The debate extends beyond Capitol Hill. On the presidential campaign trail, former President Donald Trump pledged to pursue a ban on Chinese purchases of American farmland if re-elected. Although a Senate amendment last year to block China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran from acquiring U.S. farmland passed with bipartisan support, it ultimately fell short of becoming law.
With bipartisan engagement intensifying and public scrutiny mounting, the fate of the AFIDA Improvements Act and related legislative efforts remains a key political and economic issue as lawmakers seek to balance foreign investment with national interests.
