Kansas Senator Roger Marshall and a group of bipartisan senators have introduced a bill to collect more information about foreign ownership of agricultural land in the United States.
The bill was developed as a result of a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office on foreign investments in American farmland. Senators are raising concerns that foreign ownership could jeopardize the food supply chain.
Senator Marshall said in a press release: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. USDA hasn’t done a good enough job of measuring foreign farmland ownership and certainly appears to be incapable of managing this issue that’s top of mind for farmers and consumers alike. This bipartisan legislation forces transparency and accountability from the USDA by requiring them to collect, track, and share key information on foreign investments. Food security is national security; adversarial nations’ uptick in foreign land ownership presents unique threats to our food supply. We must get a better handle on these investments.”
Other sponsors of the bill are Senators Mike Braun of Indiana and Jon Tester of Montana, as well as Senators Joni Ernst of Iowa, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Marco Rubio of Florida , Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, and Eric Schmitt of Missouri.
