USDA Launches National Farm Security Action Plan

In a landmark disclosure that highlights the growing connection between agriculture and national security, United States Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins unveiled the National Farm Security Action Plan, a strict new initiative under her "Make Agriculture Great Again" initiative. She was accompanied by United States. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Rollins rolled out the plan a cornerstone national defense strategy that will safeguard America's food systems, farms, and agricultural innovation from threats abroad.

Framing the issue as one of sovereignty and survival, Secretary Rollins said, "We feed the world. We lead the world.". And we’ll never let foreign adversaries control our land, our labs, or our livelihoods.” She emphasized the urgent need to protect America’s agricultural backbone from what she described as an escalating series of attacks—ranging from foreign land purchases and intellectual property theft to agroterrorism and cyberattacks. These threats, she said, highlight the vulnerabilities in America’s food system and demand swift, unified action.

Among the catalysts for the initiative was a new case where foreign nationals, including one being a member of China's Communist Party, were charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for bringing into the country a lethal fungus. The fungus, a bio-weapon, causes billions of dollars in loss to crops around the world. The attack, which targeted a U.S. research facility, revealed a larger scheme by enemies to wreck agriculture in America from the inside out, Rollins explained.

The National Farm Security Action Plan seeks to meet these threats with a bold set of reforms and security measures aimed at safeguarding farm land from foreign ownership, strengthening supply chains, safeguarding agricultural research, and reducing fraudulent use of U.S. nutrition assistance programs by foreign-based crime syndicates.

Addressing the importance of the plan, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth cautioned, "Foreign ownership of land near strategic bases and US military installations is a serious threat to our national security.". The Farm Security Plan will keep America First and our bases throughout the homeland safe." That was seconded by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who pledged that the Department of Justice would continue to prosecute agroterrorism cases and defend American farmers against threats at home and abroad.

Secretary Kristi Noem made a direct correlation between food security and national survival. "Food policy is national security policy. A country that can't feed itself can't defend itself," she said, going on to state that the ownership of the food supply is entirely in American hands.

The proposal is also receiving wide support from state policymakers. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders lauded the plan, citing the early initiative of her government to prevent Chinese takeover of farm land. "We know that farm security is national security," she said. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen echoed the same, noting the need to exclude foreign control of farmland as an economic and generational imperative.

Federal legislators also jumped into the fray. Senator Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama legislator whose state contains 2.2 million acres of foreign-owned farm land, labeled the situation "disastrous for our national security." Kansas Senator Roger Marshall mentioned the contribution of agriculture to biodefense, adding that plant and animal diseases could close America's food pipeline.

Agriculture officials throughout the nation supported the plan. Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said that agriculture security is essential to national defense, and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig voiced strong support for further federal enforcement to augment Iowa's prohibition on foreign ownership of land. Kentucky Commissioner Jonathan Shell and Oklahoma Secretary Blayne Arthur concurred, citing the strategic value of protecting America's food supply from both biological and geopolitical threats.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson determined that the Trump administration's actions were a strong and justified response to national security. "President Trump is doing everything in his power to make our country safe, and that includes the safety of our food supply," he stated.

The USDA's National Farm Security Action Plan will be the basis upon which a unified, multi-agency and multi-government effort will be established. By working with governors, legislatures, and security organizations, the USDA plans to bring agriculture fully into the national security policy of America. The plan reiterates that agricultural strength is not merely an economic necessity but a security necessity.

As Rollins concluded, "Defending access to American abundance and preserving the American experiment is the essence of agriculture security. Farm security is national security."