Senators Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and John Fetterman (D-PA) have joined forces to curb foreign ownership of American farmland—particularly by China—through the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure (AFIDA) Improvements Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at tightening oversight and protecting national security.
“Communist China is our greatest geopolitical threat,” Ricketts told Fox News Digital, calling the bill a necessary step to track and potentially block foreign land acquisitions that could compromise U.S. food security and military safety.
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The bill responds directly to a January 2024 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, which found AFIDA outdated and ineffective in regulating foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land. The proposed legislation would:
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Require foreign entities with more than 1% interest in U.S. farmland to report holdings.
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Improve data-sharing between the USDA and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
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Update AFIDA’s handbook.
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Set a deadline for the USDA to establish an online reporting system.
Rising National Security Concerns
The bill comes amid heightened concern over foreign interference. Two Chinese nationals were recently charged with smuggling a dangerous fungus, Fusarium graminearum, into the U.S.—a potential agroterrorism threat targeting crops like wheat, maize, rice, and barley. If consumed, the fungus can harm both humans and livestock, causing vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive issues.
“This smuggling attempt is a stark reminder of the need to protect America’s food supply and national security,” said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS Assistant Secretary.
Ricketts added that this wasn’t an isolated incident, citing efforts by Chinese nationals to steal agricultural biotech, fly drones over military bases, and buy land near sensitive installations, like Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota and Fort Liberty in North Carolina.
Between 2010 and 2021, Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland soared from 13,720 to 383,935 acres, according to the USDA. In total, foreign investors now control over 40 million acres of U.S. farmland.
Growing Bipartisan Support
The bill has drawn bipartisan backing, with co-sponsors including Sens. Tommy Tuberville, John Cornyn, Roger Wicker, and Rep. Don Bacon. Despite growing support, momentum has slowed as Senate Republicans focus on advancing former President Trump’s legislative agenda ahead of a July 4 deadline.
Still, Ricketts remains firm on the urgency:
“We are at the most dangerous point in our history since World War II. American farmland should not be a tool that our adversaries, like Communist China, can use to attack us from inside our own country.”
The bill’s introduction also comes amid rising instability in the Middle East, where tensions between Iran and Israel have reignited fears of asymmetric warfare, further underlining the strategic value of agricultural and geographic assets on American soil.
Ricketts warned that tactics used in Ukraine—where drones launched from nearby trucks destroyed Russian bombers—could be replicated in the U.S.
“If China owned land close to our air bases, they could do the same. That should concern every American.”
If passed, the AFIDA Improvements Act would mark a major step in safeguarding U.S. agriculture, military assets, and national security from foreign influence—especially from adversarial nations like China.
