China targeting U.S. agriculture through data access, espionage and biothreats, House intel chairman says

House Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) is warning that China is systematically targeting the U.S. agriculture sector – not just through cyber and economic espionage, but by exploiting biological vulnerabilities and harvesting sensitive farm data.

In an interview for the Cyber Focus podcast, Crawford said America needs to rethink agriculture as a national security asset, pointing to Chinese efforts to acquire U.S. ag data through corporate partnerships and cyber operations. “One of the most important commodities of agriculture production is the farmer’s data,” he said. Crawford referenced data collection deals such as the one between Bayer and Chinese tech giant Alibaba as something that presents a risk to the U.S. 

“We ought to have the foresight to recognize that the Chinese are always going to try to position themselves to gather data,” Crawford said.

Crawford, who also serves on the House Agriculture Committee, emphasized that farmers are increasingly vulnerable to foreign exploitation and digital surveillance. The problem isn’t just economic – it’s strategic. “Most Americans… live safely insulated from these considerations. But that’s not the case anymore,” he said. “These things are in our face.” He said he believes “the government can step it up” and do things differently to protect the private sector, but it’s also important for private companies to “play a role in protecting themselves.”

The Intel chairman called for a more integrated approach across government, saying agencies such as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must work together to address agroterrorism and cyber threats to agricultural infrastructure. 

Although Congress previously authorized ODNI to collaborate with USDA through cleared personnel, Crawford said the Biden administration failed to implement the mandate. Now, he says, current leadership at ODNI appears more willing. “I’ve talked to Director [Tulsi] Gabbard and she said, ‘I’m all in.’ Here’s why: because we had two more potential recent arrests on what could have been a bioterrorism or agroterrorism threat,” Crawford said, referencing the charges filed in June against two Chinese nationals accused of smuggling a noxious fungus into the U.S. – a substance prosecutors say could be used as an agroterrorism weapon. “This is where we need that USDA expertise,” he said.

Crawford said the same strategy could be extended to other sectors – transportation, energy and beyond. “If we can do that with USDA, we can do it with [the Department of Transportation],” he said. “So we can now talk about trying to close those gaps, identify those weaknesses and vulnerabilities that exist in the supply chain through the subject matter expertise that resides in the agency that has jurisdiction.”

To improve legislative oversight, Crawford also highlighted a new mechanism to “read in” other committee chairs on classified briefings relevant to their jurisdiction. He said he believes the move will help lawmakers better integrate national security concerns into bills affecting agriculture, commerce and infrastructure. “We think it’s a game-changer,” he said. “It better informs the legislative process. It deconflicts… [and makes] us more effective legislators.”