Hoosier lawmakers are pushing hard to make sure the federal government keeps better track of foreign adversaries when it comes to the buying up of American farmland.
On Thursday, the House passed the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024, which already has the backing of both of Indiana’s senators. Earlier this week in the House Rep. Jim Baird (R-IN-4th) spoke adamantly that the bill must become law.
“When we talk about land, we are also referring to a very precious resource (for farmers),” Baird said on the House floor. “To make sure we preserve that land, we are not interested in letting our adversaries have access to that.
The bill would create new parameters by which the US Department of Agriculture can police the buying and selling of agricultural land. The bill would not place any new restrictions in that regard, but it would allow the department to keep closer tabs on who is buying farmland throughout the country.
This would also include the Secretary of Agriculture reporting both agricultural land transactions that involve foreign persons of China, North Korea, Russia, or Iran, and transactions that require AFIDA reporting to CFIUS.
“Some (foreign persons) do not pose a real threat,” Baird said. “However, foreign adversaries, including Communist China are buying up farmland. Investors from Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela under the Maduro regime, hold about 95,000 acres of American agricultural land.”
Baird said that number has increased tenfold over the last decade. He also said some of this land is near US military bases from which adversaries like China can surveil military activity. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support. Now it’s in the hands of the Senate.
“The amount of American soil in the hands of our foreign adversaries will only go up if we do not implement restrictions and oversight, especially on nations that compromise our national security and agricultural supply chains,” says Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.). “I’m proud to lead this effort to protect American farms and food security.”
Indiana state lawmakers passed a bill this past legislative session that makes it illegal for people affiliated with foreign adversaries to purchase land within a certain radius of a military installation in Indiana.
