WASHINGTON, D.C. (WVVA) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today it is tightening rules to keep U.S. farms and federal buying safer from foreign adversaries.
Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the department will ask for public comment on modernizing the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) so the government can better track who owns farmland.
The USDA also said it’s updating the BioPreferred and guaranteed lending programs so products or companies tied to foreign adversary countries are no longer eligible.
The USDA flagged about 277,000 acres now linked to foreign adversary entities and called that a real risk to supply chains and local security. The AFIDA changes will go through an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking, so you can weigh in. Meanwhile, audits and immediate eligibility changes for BioPreferred mean manufacturers and buyers should check their supply chains and ownership now.
If you’re a farmer, producer or supplier, watch for the AFIDA comment period and review your documents. The USDA says these steps are meant to keep federal dollars supporting American producers and strengthen the resilience of our food system.
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