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On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., joined U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-PA, in reintroducing the Foreign Adversary Risk Management Act. Alabama’s other U.S. Senator, Katie Britt, is also a co-sponsor of the FARM Act.
The FARM Act would “permanently add the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, the governmental body that oversees the vetting process of foreign investment and acquisition of American companies,” according to Tuberville’s official press release. “Currently, CFIUS does not directly consider the needs of the agriculture industry when reviewing foreign investment and ownership in domestic businesses.”
“Over the last decade, we’ve seen a surge of American farmland purchases from our foreign adversaries,” said Tuberville. “These foreign investments are now reaching every piece of the very large puzzle that makes up our agriculture industry, from farming and processing to packaging and shipping. Food security is national security, and we cannot allow our adversaries to have a foot in the door to our critical supply chains.”
According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, “45.85 million acres of U.S. agricultural land were held by foreign investors in 2023, which represents 3.61 percent of total privately held agricultural land in the United States.”
Additionally, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reports that foreign investment in U.S. agricultural land has grown almost 50 percent since 2017. That growth is “mostly due to foreign-owned wind companies obtaining long-term leases to build wind turbines on farmland and pastures.” However, foreign investments also include purchases by foreign countries, individuals, and U.S.-based companies with foreign ownership.
“We must prioritize oversight of foreign investment in our food supply chains, especially from Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran,” Tuberville continued. “This starts with giving the agriculture community a permanent seat at the table on CFIUS. As Alabama’s voice on the Senate Ag Committee, I will keep fighting to secure our ag supply chains so that our agriculture community can continue to put food on the table for American families.”
Sen. Fetterman also put out a statement explaining the rationale behind the legislation.
“Pennsylvania is home to about 50,000 farms and the farmers who power them already face enough challenges to stay competitive. They shouldn’t also have to compete with foreign adversaries buying up American farmland,” Fetterman said. “America’s farms are critical infrastructure, and CFIUS exists to protect our critical infrastructure from foreign threats. So, adding the Secretary of Agriculture is just plain common sense. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: foreign adversaries have no business owning American farmland. This bill makes that clear and I’m proud to partner with my colleague to get it done.”
Although Fetterman is the only democratic legislator involved in the Senate’s FARM Act, Biden’s USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and former Clinton administration Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy have also spoken in support of the bill.
The FARM Act also has a piece of companion legislation in the House of Representatives which was reintroduced by U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-TX, on Wednesday.
