Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced the Farmland Security Act of 2025 to help safeguard rural communities and protect American farmland from being secretly bought by foreign investors.
The bipartisan legislation will build on current law to ensure that all foreign investors, including “shell companies” who buy American agricultural land, report their holdings, strengthen penalties for those who evade filing, and invest in research to better understand the impact foreign ownership of American farmland has on agricultural production capacity.
“America’s farmland is critical to the health of our rural communities and our national security,” says Baldwin. “Our legislation will help bring to light foreign investments in rural America, so we know who’s buying up land critical to our safety and the future of U.S. agriculture.”
USDA has cataloged foreign ownership of approximately 45 million acres of American agricultural land, an 85% increase since 2010.
