WASHINGTON- Amid growing concerns over foreign investment in U.S. farmland, Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Cheyenne) introduced legislation aimed at strengthening the Secretary of Agriculture’s oversight in the role of prioritizing national security concerns tied to foreign involvement in U.S. agriculture.
His bill, The Agricultural Risk Review Act (H.R. 1713), unanimously passed the House floor, designating the Secretary of Agriculture as a permanent member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States for any transactions involving the purchase of farmland, agricultural biotechnology, or other activities related to the U.S. agriculture industry.
The foreign investment committee is currently chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury, with permanent members including the heads of the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Commerce, Defense, State and Energy, as well as representatives from the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
While the Secretary of the Treasury can designate the Secretary of Agriculture as a lead agency on a case-by-case basis, the Secretary of Agriculture is not a permanent member of the Committee.
“With an increasing amount of potentially hostile foreign investment in U.S. farmland, protecting America’s agriculture industry becomes more and more paramount to our national security. That’s why permanently including the Secretary of Agriculture as a member of CFIUS is long overdue.” Lucas said in a statement.
“As a fifth-generation farmer and rancher, who’s seen this issue grow in concern, I’ve spent years working with my colleagues so this legislation can see the light of day. I thank them for bringing this longstanding priority of mine one step closer to becoming permanent law.”
According to a 2022 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Oklahoma has a total land area of approximately 43.9 million acres. Of that, 42.3 million acres are privately held agricultural land, while 1.79 million acres are owned by foreign investors—a 119,617-acre increase from 2021. The majority of that foreign-held land is owned by entities from Canada (896,901 acres), Italy (560,082 acres), and Germany (69,045 acres), with smaller holdings by investors from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and China.
The same report notes that in 2022 alone, foreign investors acquired 146,431 acres of Oklahoma land and disposed of 24,841 acres. Counties with the highest levels of foreign-owned land include Texas County (208,801 acres), Woods County (169,929 acres), and Washita County (116,913 acres).
“These are common sense measures in line with existing practices and current law,” said Lucas before the vote Monday. “Agriculture is too important to our country’s security to be left out. Our geopolitical adversaries are eager to exploit vulnerabilities in critical supply chains such as our food supply.”
Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. For more stories by Gaylord News go to GaylordNews.net.
