How Republican Ashley Hinson’s ‘Farm Bill’ provision could stop China’s buyout of US farmland – as communist adversary has been revealed to have bought 347,000 hectares

The upcoming House Farm Bill will include measures to stop foreign entities like China from snapping up American farmland, which will be a major national security win, a Republican who helped secure the provisions told DailyMail.com.

Foreign entities own a total of 40 million acres of U.S. farmland, and China has purchased nearly 347,000 acres, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Now lawmakers are working to further stop China and other adversaries from grabbing the coveted land, the Farm Bill, in fiscal year 2024.

Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, who represents a heavily agricultural district, says holding back China is critical to protecting U.S. food supply chains and strengthening national security.

“Communist China should not be allowed to buy another acre of American farmland, nor should we be dependent on our main foreign adversary for key parts of our food supply chain,” Hinson told DailyMail.com exclusively.

Chinese land purchases near key U.S. military sites are of particular concern to lawmakers and government officials.

For example, in 2022, China-based food manufacturer Fufeng Group acquired 300 acres of land in Grand Forks, just 20 minutes down the road from Grand Forks Air Force Base, where some of the nation’s most sensitive drone technology is based. .

Air Force Major Jeremy Fox wrote a memo that year characterizing the move as emblematic of Chinese efforts to install themselves close to sensitive U.S. defense installations.

He argued that the Fufeng site is in exactly the right location for the company to intercept communications coming from the air base.

Now lawmakers are trying to crack down on such cases with the help of the Farm Bill.

Among the victories Hinson says the bill will include are reforms to the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA).

These improvements would help the government more easily track purchases of U.S. farmland by foreign entities.

It will now also impose minimum penalties on those who deliberately file false AFIDA returns.

As highlighted in the January GAO report, the USDA previously tracked foreign farmland purchases using paper forms.

Now the Farm Bill includes language to create an online submission form that will allow the USDA to better track submissions.

The land the Fufeng Group purchased is 20 minutes, about 26 miles, from Grand Forks Air Force Base

Chinese companies own 346,915 hectares of US farmland as of December 2022

Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, touted reforms to the House Farm Bill that would further restrict foreign entities from purchasing U.S. farmland

The measure also requires the USDA to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to ensure timely data sharing on international land purchases.

CFIUS is an interagency committee charged with assessing the implications of foreign investments in the US – and they work closely with the intelligence community to ensure that the integrity of such deals does not pose a threat to national security.

The new House Farm Bill would also create a position dedicated to monitoring and overseeing activities related to AFIDA, called the Chief of Operations of Investigative Actions, which would report to CFIUS land acquisitions that could pose a threat pose to national security.

Hinson, who serves on the House China Select Committee, has ensured that reports of agricultural land purchases by citizens or entities linked to China, Russia, Iran, North Korea or other state sponsors of terrorism identify potential threats to the Identify USA

The Farm Bill also includes language from Hinson’s Securing American Agriculture Act, which would recapture production of vitamins and ingredients needed for livestock and agricultural production.

Many of these resources rely heavily on maintaining Chinese supply lines, which Iowan says poses risks to the US.

The current version of the bill passed the House Committee on Agriculture last week by a vote of 33 to 21.

Under the new reforms, the USDA will create an online filing portal for Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) filings.

Foreign countries own at least 100 million acres of U.S. farmland, rangelands and forests, which officials said could “impact national security.” However, a watchdog said the government is not keeping data on landowners ‘reliably’. Only agricultural land ownership is depicted

One Chinese billionaire owns seven percent of all the land in Val Verde County, Texas

Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., celebrated the committee’s passage of the bill with bipartisan support, saying in a statement last week: “Great things can be accomplished if you don’t surround yourself with red lines, and I’m excited to continue our work with whoever wants to come to the table.”

Hinson also celebrated the committee’s passage of the bill.

“I was proud to work with Chairman Thompson to ensure that initiatives to restore our food supply chain and prevent Communist China from purchasing our land were included in the House Farm Bill.”

“Food security is national security, and this Farm Bill strengthens both.”