Agricultural Risk Review Act of 2025

The Agricultural Risk Review Act of 2025 would strengthen oversight of foreign investment in U.S. agricultural land by expanding the role of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Currently, CFIUS reviews certain foreign investments for national security concerns, but agricultural land transactions have not been a primary focus. This bill would require CFIUS to review agricultural land transactions referred by the Department of Agriculture, specifically when foreign persons from China, North Korea, Russia, or Iran seek to acquire interests in U.S. agricultural land.

Under the bill, the Department of Agriculture would identify potentially concerning agricultural land transactions using intelligence community information and refer them to CFIUS. CFIUS would then determine whether each transaction poses a national security risk and decide whether to initiate a formal review or take other action. The bill would also add the Secretary of Agriculture to CFIUS for decisions involving agricultural land, agricultural biotechnology, and related industries like agricultural transportation and storage.

If enacted, this bill would give the federal government stronger tools to prevent foreign acquisition of U.S. agricultural land by adversarial nations. For everyday citizens, this could mean greater scrutiny of foreign ownership of farmland and agricultural assets, potentially affecting food security and domestic agricultural control. The bill has passed the House and is currently in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where it would need to be approved before becoming law.