New Act Puts Agriculture Secretary on CFIUS, Mandates Review of Foreign Farmland Purchases from China, Russia, and Others

The Agricultural Risk Review Act of 2025 is all about putting a new set of eyes on who’s buying up American farms and food tech. Specifically, it changes the rules for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)—the powerful, secretive group that vets foreign deals for national security risks. Under this bill, the Secretary of Agriculture gets an automatic seat and a vote on CFIUS whenever the committee reviews a transaction involving agricultural land, agricultural biotechnology, or the broader agriculture industry (SEC. 2).

This isn't just a ceremonial change. It means that if a foreign entity tries to buy a major seed company or a massive food processing plant, the Ag Secretary is now a full voting member on the national security review. For anyone in the food supply chain—from the farmer growing the crops to the person managing the grocery store shelf—this means there’s now a dedicated expert voice weighing in on foreign control over critical infrastructure. It aims to ensure that foreign investment in our food system is viewed through a lens of food security, not just military risk.

The New Tripwire for Farmland Deals

The bill also creates a targeted, expedited review process for certain agricultural land deals (SEC. 3). Think of it as a mandatory, fast-track security check. This special process kicks in only when three things are true: first, the deal involves a foreign person from one of four specific countries—the People's Republic of China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, or the Islamic Republic of Iran; second, the Secretary of Agriculture suspects it’s a covered transaction based on intelligence; and third, the deal was already required to be reported under the existing Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978.

If the Ag Secretary flags a deal that meets these criteria, CFIUS is forced to immediately decide whether to launch a full formal investigation. This provision directly targets land acquisition by entities from designated “foreign adversaries.” If you’re a farmer looking to sell acreage, this means that if your buyer is from one of those four countries, your transaction is now subject to a quick, high-stakes security review that could slow down or block the sale entirely. The intent here is to prevent strategic adversaries from gaining control of U.S. food production assets.

What This Means for the Real World

For the average person, this bill is about who owns the supply chain. If a foreign government-backed entity buys up a key piece of agricultural infrastructure—say, a major fertilizer plant or a key grain terminal—it can potentially affect prices, availability, and even the quality of the food we buy. By putting the Ag Secretary on CFIUS, the bill ensures that these concerns are front and center during national security reviews.

However, this also creates new friction points. The definition of “broader agriculture industry” is pretty vague (SEC. 2), which might mean the Ag Secretary gets pulled into more reviews than intended, potentially slowing down legitimate foreign investments. Furthermore, the targeted review process for land deals (SEC. 3) creates a clear regulatory hurdle for entities from those four named countries. While this is intended to protect national security, it could also make selling agricultural assets more complicated and time-consuming for U.S. landowners if their best offer comes from one of those targeted foreign entities.