Senator Ricketts’ Weekly Column: The PLOT Act Protects Nebraska Ag Land

Farms and ranches are the foundation of the Good Life in Nebraska.  Nebraskans feed the country and fuel the world.  Our farmers and ranchers keep America healthy and safe with a secure, reliable food supply.  But Communist China can threaten this.

Communist China has pursued a policy of strategically buying ag land.  Between 2010 and 2021, Chinese ownership of American agricultural land grew nearly 30 times larger.  As of 2023, Communist China owned more than 277,000 acres of farmland.  But it’s not just about the number of acres that they own.  They have targeted sensitive sites surrounding army bases and airfields.  They exploited our legal process to purchase land surrounding Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota and Fort Bragg in North Carolina.  This is a national security risk.  We cannot let them use American ag land to weaken U.S. national security.

We can’t let Communist China spy on American military bases from our cornfields. That’s why I introduced the PLOT Act.

The Property Location Oversight and Transparency, or PLOT, Act combats foreign adversaries’ efforts to buy American ag land.  It does this by strengthening and increasing transparency in USDA’s AFIDA reporting system.  The hardworking Americans that feed us should benefit from land ownership in the U.S.  Communist China should not.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is responsible for overseeing the foreign purchase of ag land.  This authority comes from the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, or AFIDA.  USDA is working to combat foreign land ownership from adversaries.  However, Communist China keeps working to bend our rules.

The USDA knows food security is national security.  That’s why they’ve implemented tougher regulations.  Secretary Rollins established the National Farm Security Action Plan.  The administration and I are working to help combat Communist China’s farmland purchasing in Nebraska and the country.

The PLOT Act increases USDA’s oversight of foreign purchases of American farmland.  Currently, reporting requirements are triggered when a foreigner holds at least a 10% ownership interest or when a domestic entity is at least 50% owned or controlled by a foreigner.  The PLOT Act would lower this to 5% and 10%, respectively.  Lowering reporting thresholds captures smaller foreign ownership stakes that currently go unreported.

The PLOT Act also requires foreign purchasers to provide detailed digital maps of purchased ag land.  These maps would be available to USDA, local governments, and the public.  That way, every Nebraskan knows where foreign adversaries are purchasing farmland.  Nebraska farmers and ranchers should know this information.

The PLOT Act is just one way I’m fighting for more transparency and stricter requirements in the AFIDA reporting process.  Last year, I introduced the bipartisan AFIDA Improvements Act.  It also strengthens the foreign ag land reporting process.  It increases transparency and information sharing.  It would also require an online reporting portal for USDA.  These provisions were included in the House Ag Committee’s Farm Bill.  I am fighting for them in the Senate.

Nebraska ag land is passed down generation to generation.  Nebraska farmers and ranchers are proud of their land and the crops that grow from it.  We can’t let foreign adversaries like Communist China get away with purchasing our land.  That’s why I’m introducing the PLOT Act.

My team and I are here to serve you.  Contact us anytime by phone at 202-224-4224.  You can also view my website at http://www.ricketts.senate.gov/contact.