Mobile Courant

U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville and John Fetterman have reintroduced the Foreign Adversary Risk Management (FARM) Act. The legislation aims to permanently include the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture in the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS), which oversees foreign investment and acquisition of American companies. Currently, CFIUS does not specifically address agricultural industry concerns when reviewing foreign investments.

Senator Tuberville stated, “Over the last decade, we’ve seen a surge of American farmland purchases from our foreign adversaries.” He emphasized that "food security is national security" and stressed the importance of oversight over foreign investments in food supply chains, particularly from countries like Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

Senator Fetterman noted Pennsylvania's 50,000 farms face enough challenges without competing against foreign entities purchasing American farmland. He said, “America’s farms are critical infrastructure," and adding the Secretary of Agriculture to CFIUS is common sense.

Joining them in this legislative effort are several other senators including Roger Marshall, Rick Scott, Eric Schmitt, Kevin Cramer, Katie Britt, Marsha Blackburn, Deb Fischer, Steve Daines, John Hoeven, Cynthia Lummis, and Tim Sheehy.

Two former Agriculture Secretaries have expressed support for this initiative. U.S. Representative Ronny Jackson also reintroduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives. Rep. Jackson criticized what he described as President Biden's "failed leadership" allowing foreign influence in food supply chains.

The push comes amid increasing concerns over foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land. According to USDA data from December 2023, foreign investors own about 45 million acres of U.S. agricultural land—a number that has increased significantly since 2017.