National Farm Security Action Plan Strengthens American Agriculture

Leaders Unite to Protect Farms and Food Production Security

The National Farm Security Action Plan has been launched to protect American agriculture and secure the nation’s food supply. Key leaders, including Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler J Harper, joined top officials like USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins to announce this effort focused on defending U.S. agriculture.

The plan addresses foreign threats, especially from adversaries like China, and highlights the critical role of farming in national security. The USDA outlines seven key action areas in the plan:

• Securing American Farmland: Ensuring transparency in land ownership and stricter penalties for illegal foreign acquisitions.
• Strengthening Supply Chains: Promoting domestic production and reducing reliance on adversarial nations.
• Protecting Nutrition Programs: Preventing fraud in food programs by foreign crime groups.
• Defending Research and Innovation: Keeping U.S. agricultural advancements safe from hostile nations.
• America First USDA Programs: Ensuring every program supports American farmers first.
• Safeguarding Plant and Animal Health: Stopping bio-threats before they affect U.S. agriculture.
• Protecting Critical Infrastructure: Treating farms and food supply chains as national security assets.

Recent reports highlight China’s increasing farmland ownership, including cases like the purchase of Smithfield Foods in 2014 and attempts to buy land near military bases. These purchases have raised national security concerns.

Georgia banned adversarial foreign entities from purchasing farmland. Commissioner Harper led this effort in partnership with the Georgia General Assembly to safeguard local agriculture.

The National Farm Security Action Plan aims to protect American farmers, uphold food security, and ensure that agriculture remains a strong pillar of national safety.