USDA releases plan to protect U.S. agriculture from cyber threats and Chinese intrusions

Marty Holman works on the computer in his outdoor office at Holman’s Harvest Farms in Loxahatchee Groves, Fla., on Feb. 25, 2021. (USDA/FPAC photo by Preston Keres)

By Jack Burnham and Maria Riofrio • Jul 12, 2025

Washington is moving to block China and other adversaries from buying U.S. farmland and hacking our food supply. On July 8, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its National Farm Security Action Plan to counter foreign land grabs and bolster agricultural cybersecurity.

The plan reflects concerns that Beijing’s infiltration of the homeland could turn America’s farmland into a strategic vulnerability via espionage or sabotage to the nation’s food system.

The USDA’s plan includes investment and cybersecurity protection measures to prevent China from acquiring American farmland. These include enhancing enforcement of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) and partnering with Congress and state officials to ban foreign adversaries from acquiring land. The plan will also strengthen the scope of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to specifically screen transactions involving farmland and agricultural biotechnology.