Washington, D.C. — Yesterday, Farm Action submitted a public comment to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in strong support of its proposed rulemaking to update the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA), urging the agency to take bold action to bolster transparency.
Farmland ownership shapes our food system: It determines who can farm, what crops are farmed, and the vitality of rural economies. AFIDA was enacted in 1978 to track foreign investment in U.S. agricultural land, and though it’s been updated since, it remains unreliable—leaving Congress without critical information to inform policy decisions. Meanwhile, farmland is being rapidly consolidated into fewer hands.
USDA’s proposed updates to AFIDA aim to address reporting gaps by improving how reports are collected, verified, and shared—a necessary and overdue step, Farm Action writes.
“Existing AFIDA reporting mechanisms have not been adequately enforced or modernized, resulting in persistent uncertainty about who owns and controls American farmland and how that ownership affects farmers and ranchers, rural communities, food security, and national security. Without reliable data, policymakers and the public are unable to assess risks, identify trends, or develop informed policy responses,” Farm Action’s comment says.
In addition to the proposed updates, Farm Action urges USDA to go a step further by imposing financial penalties for compliance failures to ensure the changes are meaningfully enforced.
“Agricultural land is a strategic national asset. It underpins domestic food production, supply chain resilience, and the ability of the United States to respond to economic disruptions, climate shocks, and geopolitical instability. Who owns and controls farmland directly influences what is grown, how it is produced, and whether agricultural resources are oriented toward domestic needs or external markets,” Farm Action writes.
By enacting these changes to AFIDA, USDA could ensure that policymakers have the information needed to address farmland consolidation, protect rural communities, and safeguard the long-term resilience and security of the U.S. food system.
