U.S. Farm Security Plan Announced

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins recently announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Farm Security Action Plan. The plan elevates American agriculture as a key element of national security.

“We’ll never let foreign adversaries control our land, our labs or our livelihoods,” Rollins said.

The USDA reported that the U.S. Department of Justice recently charged foreign nationals, including a Chinese Communist Party member, with smuggling a noxious fungus into the United States. It declared the fungus a potential agroterrorism weapon responsible for billions in global crop losses.

The USDA stated that the action highlighted a trend of America’s enemies infiltrating U.S. research, buying up U.S. farmland, stealing U.S. technology and launching cyberattacks on U.S. food systems. “These actions expose strategic vulnerabilities in America’s food and agriculture supply chain,” USDA stated.

According to USDA, the National Farm Security Action Plan safeguards the U.S. food supply, strengthens critical infrastructure and defends U.S. agricultural innovation from foreign adversaries. USDA stated that the plan takes aggressive action across seven areas:

1. Secure and Protect American Farmland – Address U.S. foreign farmland ownership from adversaries head on with total transparency and tougher penalties.
2. Enhance Agricultural Supply Chain Resilience– Refocus domestic investment into key manufacturing sectors and identify non-adversarial partners to work with when domestic production is not available. Plan for contingencies.
3. Protect U.S. Nutrition Safety Net From Fraud and Foreign Exploitation – USDA stated that billions have been stolen by foreign crime rings, adding, “That ends now.”
4. Defend Agricultural Research and Innovation – “No more sweetheart deals or secret pacts with hostile nations,” USDA stated. “American ideas stay in America.”
5. Put America First in Every USDA Program– From farm loans to food safety, every program will reflect the America First agenda.
6. Safeguard Plant and Animal Health – Crack down on bio-threats before they reach U.S. soil.
7. Protect Critical Infrastructure– Farms, food and supply chains are national security assets and will be treated as such.

See the full plan and/or the executive summary.

The National Farm Security Action Planwill serve as the launch point for USDA to work in unison with governors, state legislators and federal partners to further integrate agriculture into broader national security efforts.

“Foreign ownership of land near strategic bases and U.S. military installations poses a serious threat to our national security,” said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. “The Farm Security Plan will put America first and keep our bases across the homeland secure.”

“Farm security is national security,” added Attorney General Pam Bondi. “The Department of Justice will continue working to prosecute those who threaten American agriculture, investigate cases of potential agro-terrorism and protect America’s farmers from illegal threats at home and abroad.”

Source: USDA