Sponsors (9)
The bill strengthens transparency, federal coordination, and national-security review of foreign agricultural land ownership—helping enforcement and protection of domestic agriculture—but does so by imposing new reporting burdens, raising privacy concerns, and creating implementation costs and potential processing delays for owners and taxpayers.
Farmers, rural communities, and government reviewers will have clearer, timelier information about who owns U.S. agricultural land because foreign owners with ≥1% interests must report and agencies get access to AFIDA filings.
Federal coordination and record validation (FPAC–BC processes and FSA handbook updates incorporating GAO recommendations) will improve accuracy and consistency of land ownership records and enforcement/program targeting.
Identifying reporters and persons subject to civil penalties and sharing that information with security reviewers helps deter undisclosed foreign acquisitions and protects domestic farmers and communities.
Foreign owners (including immigrants) with even small (≥1%) stakes in agricultural land will face new reporting obligations and compliance costs, and missed filings could lead to fines or penalties.
Expanded collection, validation, and mandatory sharing of ownership data with security reviewers (CFIUS) raises privacy and civil liberties concerns for private landowners, reporters, and investors.
Updating handbooks, creating MOUs, and building or implementing an electronic submission system will impose administrative and fiscal costs that may fall on USDA budgets and taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires AFIDA reporting for foreign persons with 1%+ direct or aggregated interests, expands enforcement/data validation, mandates CFIUS MOUs and FSA handbook updates.
Introduced June 5, 2025 by John Peter Ricketts · Last progress June 5, 2025
Amends the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act by requiring that any foreign person who directly or indirectly holds at least a 1% interest in agricultural land must file AFIDA reports, expands and clarifies enforcement and data-validation duties for Farm Production and Conservation Business Center (FPAC–BC) and the Farm Service Agency (FSA), and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to formalize information-sharing with CFIUS, update the FSA "Foreign Investment Disclosure" handbook to incorporate GAO recommendations, and plan for an electronic submission process if one is not implemented within a year. Several required actions must be completed within one year of enactment, and the handbook must be updated every 10 years thereafter.