Findings

Congress finds that— (1) it is the longstanding policy of the United States to foster and encourage the family farm system of agriculture in the United States; (2) the maintenance of the family farm system of agriculture is essential to the social and economic wellbeing and national security of the United States; (3) agricultural land is— (A) a critical and limited resource of the United States that provides needed food and fiber for the people of the United States and others throughout the world; and (B) a source of wealth, including generational wealth, for the people of the United States; (4) since the 2008 financial crisis, corporations and, in particular, pension funds, have increasingly turned to farmland investment; (5) from 2005 to 2025— (A) the number of institutionally owned farm properties rose three-fold; and (B) the market value of that property increased from less than $2,000,000,000 to more than $16,000,000,000; (6) large corporate investors that own farmland— (A) are more focused on short-term profits than long-term land conservation; and (B) have less interest than independent family farmers in ensuring that agricultural land is used in a way that most benefits the local community; (7) since 2005, farmland prices in the United States have nearly doubled; (8) higher farmland prices provide an advantage to well-capitalized corporate interests who can often outbid independent family farmers; (9) continued expansion of ownership and control of agricultural land by corporate owners, especially institutional investors— (A) threatens the future use of the agricultural land for the benefit of the people of the United States; and (B) is detrimental to the welfare and national security of the United States; (10) the operational scope and economic impacts of corporate ownership of agricultural land— (A) is increasingly interstate; and (B) directly affects the continued well-being and security of millions of residents of rural communities; and (11) there is a national public interest in regulating corporate ownership of agricultural land.