Recently, a group of U.S. Representatives introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at protecting American farmland from foreign ownership. The bill, known as the AFIDA Improvements Act of 2025, was introduced by Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE-02) along with several colleagues including Reps. Mark Alford (R-MO-04), Michael Bost (R-IL-12), Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24), Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28), Brad Finstad (R-MN-01), Ashley Hinson (R-IA-02), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-06), Dan Newhouse (R-WA-04), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19).
The legislation aims to address concerns about foreign ownership of U.S. farmland by amending the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act. It seeks to improve data sharing on foreign investments in agricultural land transactions and enhance oversight and validation processes.
Rep. Bacon emphasized the importance of this legislation in addressing national security concerns related to foreign purchases of farmland, particularly by entities like the Chinese Communist Party. “The AFIDA Improvements Act is a bipartisan path to address the national security concerns stemming from the growing purchases of farmland by the Chinese Communist Party,” he stated.
Rep. Alford highlighted that such purchases pose a grave national security risk and stressed the need for transparency in land transactions: “Purchases of American farmland by foreign adversaries are a grave national security risk that has gone on for too long.”
Other representatives echoed these sentiments, emphasizing food security as a critical component of national security and expressing their support for improved reporting requirements and closing loopholes that allow foreign entities to acquire U.S. farmland undetected.
The bill follows previous efforts included in last Congress’s Farm Bill passed by the House Agriculture Committee, with hopes for further advancement during this session.
