Sponsors (20)
Introduced March 6, 2025 by Randy Feenstra · Last progress March 6, 2025
The bill trades stronger transparency, national‑security protection, and sustained enforcement funding for agriculture against increased compliance costs, privacy and due‑process risks, potential diplomatic and property‑rights disputes, and higher federal spending.
Farmers, local and state governments, and the public gain much clearer visibility into who owns U.S. agricultural land through a centralized public database, state‑level acreage reporting, and regular congressional and USDA transparency reports.
Rural communities, farmers, and critical‑infrastructure operators receive stronger national‑security and biosecurity protections because the bill mandates threat analysis, interagency coordination, and expanded review of potentially risky foreign landholdings.
USDA and enforcement offices obtain more predictable funding (including retained penalties and multi‑year appropriations) and upfront project funding, supporting sustained enforcement, a secure database, and program continuity.
Owners, buyers, real‑estate professionals, and small businesses face new and potentially significant compliance costs, paperwork, and transactional delays due to expanded reporting, certification, and review requirements.
Individuals and entities that fail to report or that receive benefits improperly risk large financial liabilities — including steep civil penalties tied to fair market value and penalties up to 125% of benefits — creating potential severe financial hardship and litigation exposure.
Public naming, publication of ownership data, expanded investigations, and labeling of parties as linked to foreign concerns create privacy, reputational, and due‑process risks for landowners, immigrants, and individuals associated with flagged entities.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Strengthens foreign‑land reporting and penalties, creates a USDA enforcement office and public foreign‑land database, expands CFIUS authority, bars foreign persons from FSA programs, and funds implementation.
Strengthens rules and enforcement around foreign purchases and management of U.S. agricultural land, expands national‑security review of such transactions, creates USDA enforcement capacity and a public database of foreign‑owned farmland, and bars foreign persons from participating in Farm Service Agency (FSA) programs. It increases penalties, requires due diligence and public disclosure, adds USDA and FDA roles in CFIUS reviews related to real estate, and provides specific funding for implementation and secure facilities.