Congressional Report Highlights Gaps in U.S. Oversight of Foreign Investment in Agricultural Land
A recent Congressional Research Service report has identified critical gaps in the U.S. government's ability to monitor and restrict foreign investment in agricultural land, particularly concerning acquisitions by foreign adversaries like China. Federal law, specifically the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA), currently mandates only disclosure of foreign acquisitions or transfers of U.S. agricultural land to the Department of Agriculture within 90 days, without imposing any restrictions on these transactions. As of 2024, foreign investors held interests in approximately 47.2 million acres of U.S. agricultural land, representing 3.6 percent of all privately held farmland. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has limited jurisdiction over agricultural land, primarily reviewing transactions near specific military installations or ports. 
