This Land is Our Land: Addressing Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land in the United States 

Note by: Will Miller

In this note, Will Miller examines the rapid increase in foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land and the national security and food security risks it creates. He explains that the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) only requires reporting of foreign ownership but imposes no restrictions, leaving regulation largely to a patchwork of state laws. Miller argues for federal oversight, contending that matters of foreign affairs and national security are best handled at the national level. He proposes a comprehensive federal regulatory scheme which would set nationwide minimum standards such as prohibiting ownership by foreign adversaries and capping total foreign-held acreage while allowing states to adopt stricter rules.