The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency is set to revise the form used for reporting foreign agricultural land ownership in the country. This update aims to enhance the detail and scope of information gathered for the agency’s annual reports.
Under current regulations, non-U.S. citizens or companies acquiring agricultural land in the United States are mandated to report these purchases to the USDA. This is done through the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) Report form.
The proposed changes to this form are intended to gather more comprehensive data, particularly focusing on long-term lease arrangements, the impact of foreign investment on local agricultural producers, and more precise information regarding the locations of these land holdings.
Micah Brown from the National Ag Law Center has commented on the necessity of these updates, noting that the information requested by the USDA has largely remained unchanged since 1978.
He suggests that this revision could be the USDA’s initial step towards creating a database for foreign agricultural land ownership, a move that aligns with recent amendments to the AFIDA law by Congress.
The FSA is currently seeking public input on these proposed changes, with a deadline for feedback set for Friday, February 16. Alongside this announcement, the USDA has also released its 2022 AFIDA report, which provides further insights into foreign agricultural land ownership in the United States.
