The AFIDA Improvements Act of 2025 updates reporting requirements for foreign ownership of U.S. farmland, lowers the minimum ownership threshold for disclosure to 1 percent, and enhances information sharing with national security officials.
Pete Ricketts
Senator
NE
The AFIDA Improvements Act of 2025 updates the rules for reporting foreign ownership of U.S. farmland under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978. This bill lowers the minimum reporting threshold to 1% ownership for certain foreign investors and clarifies enforcement procedures for the Secretary of Agriculture. Furthermore, it mandates information sharing between the Department of Agriculture and national security officials (CFIUS) regarding these foreign investment disclosures. The Act also requires updates to official handbooks and an analysis of implementing a fully electronic reporting system.
New Law Mandates Reporting Foreign Farmland Ownership Down to 1% Stake, Boosts National Security Oversight
The newly proposed AFIDA Improvements Act of 2025 is setting out to tighten the rules on who owns America’s farmland, focusing squarely on foreign investors. This bill updates the existing Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) with some serious teeth, primarily by lowering the threshold for mandatory reporting and ensuring national security officials get a look at the data.
The New 1% Rule: Who Has to Report?
If you thought only big buyers had to report foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land, think again. The bill introduces a major change: If a piece of farmland is bought or sold, any foreign person involved must report if they hold at least a 1 percent stake in that land. Crucially, this 1 percent rule applies whether the ownership is direct or indirect—meaning if you own 10% of Company A, which owns 10% of Company B, which owns the land, and that math gets you to 1% of the total, you're now on the hook for reporting. This is a huge shift, designed to catch small pieces of ownership hidden deep within complex corporate structures. For foreign investment firms, this significantly increases the compliance burden, requiring them to track ownership down to a granular level that wasn't previously required.
Sharing the Farm Data with National Security
One of the most significant provisions is the mandate to link agricultural oversight with national security reviews. The Secretary of Agriculture must now establish agreements to share all details from these foreign ownership reports with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) within one year of the law passing. CFIUS is the government body that reviews foreign investments for national security risks. Essentially, every time a foreign entity files an AFIDA report, a copy is automatically sent to the security team. This closes a potential information gap, giving national security officials a clearer picture of who owns what, and where, across the country's agricultural base.
Modernizing the Paperwork and Enforcement
To manage this influx of data, the bill focuses on modernization and stronger enforcement. The Farm Production and Conservation Business Center (FPAC-BC) is getting new duties to actively ensure compliance with the new 1% rule and to identify individuals who might be subject to civil penalties. The bill even requires the Secretary to update the official agency handbook, incorporating suggestions from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on how to better track and share risk information. This means the procedures for tracking foreign ownership should become much clearer and more efficient.
Finally, the bill pushes the agency toward digital processes. It requires an analysis and timeline for implementing a fully electronic reporting system for AFIDA disclosures within a year. If you've ever had to deal with outdated government forms, you know this move to digital reporting is long overdue and should make compliance easier—once they figure out how to build the system.