Sponsors (21)
The bill strengthens national-security oversight of agricultural land and ag-related transactions by adding USDA expertise and intelligence-triggered reviews for specified adversary nationals, trading greater protection for U.S. food supply and ag IP against increased transaction scrutiny, potential delays, reduced foreign investment, and added administrative burden.
Rural communities, farmers, and agricultural workers: the Secretary of Agriculture will have a formal role in CFIUS reviews of agriculture-related transactions, bringing subject-matter expertise (farmland protection, ag-biotech IP, transport/storage/processing) to better assess and mitigate risks to the U.S. food supply and agricultural research.
Rural communities and state/local governments: CFIUS review is prompted when intelligence or AFIDA reporting raises concerns about land purchases by nationals of China, DPRK, Russia, or Iran, creating an intelligence-informed, interagency process (with a sunset tied to removal from the 'foreign adversaries' list) to catch potentially risky acquisitions that might otherwise evade scrutiny.
Farmers and the broader food sector: improved review capability could identify and reduce supply-chain vulnerabilities (transportation, storage, processing) and help protect sensitive ag-biotech intellectual property, supporting longer-term resilience of domestic food production.
Farmers, sellers, small business owners, and foreign investors: the bill is likely to increase transaction delays, procedural complexity, and uncertainty for agriculture-related deals because of added review layers and intelligence referrals.
Farmers and U.S. agricultural businesses: greater perceived regulatory risk and targeted restrictions on investors from specified 'adversary' countries could reduce foreign investment in U.S. agriculture or raise the cost of capital.
Federal and state governments and taxpayers: the measure creates additional administrative workload for the Secretary of Agriculture and CFIUS without new funding or procedural deadlines, potentially straining USDA capacity, increasing government costs, and slowing processing of other cases.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Adds the Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for transactions that touch agricultural land, agricultural biotechnology, or the agriculture industry (including transportation, storage, and processing). It also creates a process requiring CFIUS to evaluate and decide whether to review or otherwise act after the Secretary notifies the Committee of certain "reportable agricultural land transactions," including purchases by persons from China, the DPRK, Russia, or Iran, and transactions reportable under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA). The new duties end for a listed country once that country is removed from the federal foreign-adversary list. The bill does not appropriate funds or add new deadlines or procedural authorities beyond the membership and notification requirements; it relies on existing CFIUS authorities for substantive review and enforcement. The change increases agriculture-specific national-security screening and formalizes the Agriculture Secretary's role in CFIUS decisions about agricultural transactions.
Introduced February 27, 2025 by Frank D. Lucas · Last progress June 24, 2025