Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins warned on Fox News Tuesday that foreign ownership of U.S. farmland poses a national security threat that could trigger “the great decline of civilizations.”
The American Farm Bureau Federation reported in January that foreign investors held 45.85 million acres, or 3.61%, of U.S. agricultural land in 2023, marking a 12.2% increase since 2021. During an appearance on “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Baier said that in the 13 years leading up to 2023, foreign ownership of American assets surged by 85%, sparking a heated debate about national security and economic sovereignty. Baier asked Rollins if this poses a problem for Americans.
“This is a massive, massive challenge, I believe, for our country. And it isn’t just a challenge for our farmers and our farmland. It’s a national security issue. Food security is national security,” Rollins told Baier.
Rollins draws on what she says are historical precedents.
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“When we can’t feed our own people, then you see the great decline of other great civilizations across the world and across history. So I believe personally that this is one of the most important challenges that we’re going to be facing,” Rollins said.
Rollins suggested a proactive approach to the problem, one that leverages both state and federal resources.
“We’ve already begun to think through what solutions look like. I am a massive 10th Amendment supporter, the laboratories of democracy. The states have already begun to make significant moves – Arkansas, South Dakota, and others – on this exact issue,” Rollins said. “But I think that we, at the federal government, as much as I like to push things back to the people, that that is something we’re going to really need to look closely at. I’ve already begun conversations on the Hill about just that.”
Canadian investors lead with 33.5% of foreign-held U.S. agricultural land — followed by the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany owning sizable but smaller portions respectively.
Texas holds the most foreign-owned agricultural land in the U.S. at 5.7 million acres, accounting for 3.6% of its total privately held agricultural space, while Maine, with 3.5 million acres, leads in proportion with over 21% of its agricultural land under foreign ownership. In both states, this ownership is largely attributed to forest products and timber companies, whereas in Hawaii, 17% of its agricultural land is foreign-owned, primarily due to renewable energy investments.
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