A robust agricultural sector is a key bedrock of American national security because a nation that cannot feed itself cannot defend itself. Food independence ensures that the United States is not beholden to foreign adversaries for its most basic survival needs, insulating the country from geopolitical blackmail and supply chain weaponization. Ultimately, preserving domestic food production capabilities allows the U.S. to project power globally while maintaining stability at home, ensuring that American sovereignty is never compromised.
Congress needs to act now. Our food supply can’t wait. And a new Farm Bill is one key solution to agricultural security that America needs.
Today, we stand at a critical juncture for our national food security. Key developments are underway that would support a more robust agricultural sector. Congress is considering permanently banning individuals and entities from foreign adversaries from purchasing American agricultural land and critical agribusiness infrastructure. There’s a strong push for the Secretary of Agriculture to be permanently installed as a member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review any foreign acquisition involving agricultural land, biotechnology, or food supply chains.
And as the farm bill considers expanding research capabilities, it is necessary for USDA to implement stricter vetting for foreign nationals participating in federally funded agricultural research to prevent the theft of American intellectual property and seed technology.
As Congress examines various proposals, it should also closely look at codifying key pillars of the 2025 USDA Farm Security Action Plan announced by Secretaries Rollins, Hegseth, Noem and Attorney General Bondi. The action plan provides various recommendations and steps to protect U.S. agriculture from foreign adversaries.
The potential inclusion of these provisions in the Farm Bill reflects a fundamental shift in doctrine: the recognition that food security is national security. By restricting foreign adversaries from owning the soil beneath our feet and the infrastructure that processes our food, the U.S. is effectively removing a powerful lever of asymmetric warfare. If a hostile power controls significant portions of our agricultural production or the inputs required to sustain it, they possess the ability to induce domestic instability through artificial shortages or price manipulation. Such tactics are possibly even more difficult to counter than traditional military threats.
When Donald President Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill into law, it provided a foundation of stability for producers who were navigating a complex global market. But since that time, the world has changed and new authorities are needed. Over the last eight years, short term extensions have maintained the status quo, but we can no longer tackle 2026 problems using 2018 tools. If Congress doesn’t pass a new authorization, American farm security is further jeopardized.
With Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act making massive impacts for farmers by stabilizing commodity prices and the safety net, Congress must now finish the job and secure a long-term authorization for farmers. The structural pillars that support our global competitiveness and local land management are still operating on the fumes of a 2018 extension. Our producers are currently operating without long-term certainty for essential programs to claw back market share from foreign adversaries. Our rural communities are waiting on the reauthorization of forestry and rural development programs.
Many of the high-quality programs that were successfully enacted for the first time during the Trump Administration in 2018 are currently facing a funding vacuum. These include bipartisan initiatives for agricultural research and development, water protection, biofuels, and textile protection. A new Farm Bill would restore the necessary resources to these sectors, ensuring that America remains the global leader in agricultural innovation and conservation.
The clock is ticking. Congress has an opportunity to usher in a new era of food independence and security. Let’s hope they take it.
Chad Wolf is the former acting Secretary of Homeland Security and a senior advisor to Protecting America Initiative, a coalition of concerned Americans and public policy experts dedicated to combating the growing influence of Communist China in the United States
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
(Featured Image Media Credit:Â U.S. Department Of Agriculture/Creative Commons/Flickr)
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