Sponsors (12)
The bill strengthens protections and federal scrutiny to keep agricultural land and supply chains out of adversary control, but does so by pushing states to adopt new restrictions that could reduce federal funding, depress land values, and impose administrative costs on states and landowners.
State governments and local farmers: Enables states to restrict or prohibit purchases of agricultural land by adversary foreign nations, reducing the risk of hostile control of farms and protecting local food production and critical supply chains.
Federal oversight and accountability: Directs USDA to recommend updates to the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act within a year and requires GAO to assess national-security impacts and recommend measures within 90 days, improving federal review and coordination on foreign agricultural land investment.
State governments and rural communities: States that fail to enact the required laws within one year risk losing access to federal program funds, potentially reducing funding for rural development and climate programs.
Homeowners and farmland owners: Prohibiting foreign purchases of agricultural land may depress land values and limit investment opportunities, lowering property sale values and reducing buyers for affected properties.
State agriculture agencies and landowners: New reporting requirements and prohibitions create ongoing administrative burdens and compliance costs (including annual reporting), increasing workload and implementation expenses for state agencies and private owners.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Conditions certain federal agricultural program funds on states passing laws that ban covered foreign countries from buying agricultural land and require annual reporting by prior foreign landholders.
Official title: To require that a State be ineligible to receive funds under certain Federal programs unless the State has in effect a State law restricting the purchase of agricultural land by certain foreign persons, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 11, 2025 by Stephanie I. Bice · Last progress February 11, 2025
Conditions certain federal agricultural program funds on states adopting laws that bar designated foreign countries and their agents from buying agricultural land and requiring existing foreign holders to file annual reports; requires federal reports on improving foreign‑land investment monitoring and an assessment of national security risks. The restriction list references the State Department’s defense trade control country list and adopts existing AFIDA definitions for ‘‘agricultural land’’ and ‘‘foreign person.’' Starting one year after enactment, states that do not pass the required prohibitions and reporting rules become ineligible for specified covered program funds tied to a prior law; the bill also directs the USDA and GAO to report to Congress on updating disclosure rules and on national security implications of foreign investment in U.S. real estate.