FARM Act
Key claim: The FARM Act would place the Secretary of Agriculture on CFIUS and require mandatory review of foreign investments that could result in control of U.S. agricultural businesses, while classifying agricultural systems as critical infrastructure.
Abstract
(HR620 · 119th Congress) Foreign Adversary Risk Management Act or the FARM Act This bill places the Secretary of Agriculture on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). It also requires CFIUS to review any investment that could result in foreign control of any U.S. agricultural business. Further, the bill includes agricultural systems and supply chains in the definitions of critical infrastructure and critical technologies for the purposes of reviewing such investments. The Department of Agriculture and the Government Accountability Office must each annually analyze and report on foreign influence in the U.S. agricultural industry. Latest action (2025-02-28): Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture.
Why this matters
The FARM Act would materially expand CFIUS jurisdiction, historically focused on defense, tech, and traditional critical infrastructure, into the agricultural sector, potentially subjecting a wide range of foreign farm and agribusiness transactions to mandatory national-security review. For importers and foreign investors this raises deal-execution risk and timelines; for U.S. agricultural exporters and consumers the effects are indirect, working through investment flows and any resulting shifts in ownership of processing, input, and land assets.