House Republicans, led by Ag Committee Ranking Member Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-PA-15), and Oversight Committee Ranking Member James Comer (R-KY-1), penned a letter requesting a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review of foreign acquisitions of U.S. farmland and its impact on national security, trade and food security.
The letter states while the USDA shows foreign investors represent 2.9% of privately owned farmland, that number may be “underreported due to the data’s lack of reliability and definitions used by USDA to report foreign ownership.”
The House members expressed concern about national security with a recent purchase of a farm near an Air Force base in North Dakota by a Chinese company. They are asking the GAO to conduct a study that addresses the extent and trends of foreign farmland investment, how the USDA collects its data, the procedures in place to ensure proper and accurate disclosure, how the U.S. ensures land remains in agricultural use and doesn’t pose a risk to national security, and how to strengthen reporting.
