This legislative action comes on the heels of the government’s unveiling of the National Farm Security Action Plan on July 8 by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. The plan hinted at forthcoming legislative and executive measures to reinforce the goal of protecting the nation’s farmland and food supply. Complementing Hawley’s bill, Rollins also launched a searchable map displaying foreign farmland ownership and a new online portal for reporting violations of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, underscoring the Administration’s comprehensive approach to safeguarding agricultural assets.

The concern over foreign ownership of U.S. farmland has been gaining bipartisan traction on the legislative front. Several other bills introduced in February reflect this growing effort. These include proposals to grant the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) authority to review foreign land purchases, prohibit CCP-linked entities from buying land adjacent to federal properties, and broadly ban individuals associated with adversarial governments from purchasing or leasing U.S. farmland, signifying a united front in agricultural security.

According to data from the USDA’s map, Chinese entities currently own over 277,000 acres of agricultural land across 30 states, a substantial increase of 350% since 2010. Senator Hawley’s press release highlights that such extensive ownership by a major geopolitical rival compromises the integrity of the U.S. food supply and presents unacceptable national security risks, especially given the proximity of some of this land to sensitive military installations, raising alarms within agribusiness security circles.