What Does the Farmland Security Plan Mean for Foreign Owned Businesses Like Syngenta?

In July, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the National Farm Security Action Plan, the Trump Administration’s effort to elevate American agriculture as a key element of national security. The announcement included a Foreign Farm Land Purchases map and a web portal to report violations of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA).

Rollins said in the announcement, “We feed the world. We lead the world. And we’ll never let foreign adversaries control our land, our labs, or our livelihoods.”

Impact on Foreign Owned Agribusinesses 

The effort to secure U.S. farmland creates uncertainty for foreign owned agribusinesses like Syngenta.

The Switzerland-based company said in a statement, “Our mission is to help American farmers grow safe and plentiful food, and to strengthen rural communities across the country.”

Syngenta is one of the world’s oldest and largest agricultural companies; it claims to have roots going back nearly 250 years. For 50 years Syngenta has worked with U.S. farmers, and now employs more than 4,000 people across 40 states and spends about $2 billion on U.S. goods and services. In 2017, Syngenta was bought by the Chinese-owned chemical manufacturer ChemChina. The landmark $43 billion deal was approved by the Trump Administration. 

Regret Over Major Merger

During the National Farm Security Action Plan announcement press conference, White House Counselor Peter Navarro bemoaned that China was allowed to have more sway in agriculture.

“Remember when they arrested Chinese spies on the Iowa farmland?” Navarro said, recalling cases over the last decade where Chinese nationals were convicted of attempting to steal crop seed. “Y’all remember that? That was another turning point in our awareness where if they’re owning the farmland, they’re going to get the seeds that way too.”

Navarro sees it as an existential threat, using a statement heard often among the farm community, “Food security is national security.”

According to the 2023 AFIDA report, nearly 3.5% of privately held U.S. agricultural acres were owned by foreign countries. Of the estimated 45 million acres, Canadian investors have the most (33%), followed by the Netherlands (11%), Italy (6%), the United Kingdom (6%), and Germany (5%).

Adversaries identified by the Trump Administration officially own less than one percent of acres. Chinese investors own 277,000 acres, followed by Iran at 3,030 acres, and Russian investors at 11 acres. However, the AFIDA report said that should be treated as a minimum number. Tracking foreign investments can sometimes include people from multiple countries, to which the filing is determined as “no predominant country.” 

How Businesses Use Farmland

Chad Hart, farm economist with Iowa State University, said while there are cases of business espionage in agriculture – such as in 2016 when Mo Hailong pleaded guilty to stealing seeds with intent to send back to China – there is a need for nuanced policy recognizing the scale of agricultural companies. “You have to allow some international control to get access to the global marketplace. I think at the same time too though, we can set boundaries on where that land is. How close it is to, for example, federally sensitive sites.”

Hart pointed out there is a good reason why foreign owned agribusinesses need U.S. farmland, “If they’re developing seed varieties for the U.S., it would make sense that you want that development here, so that those seed varieties best fit the local landscape.”

Syngenta agreed, saying the land they have is used to make sure products are developed on a local level. “Testing soybeans in Wisconsin does not guarantee they will be the best option for soybean producers in Georgia — they need to be tested in that location,” Syngenta said in a statement.

Syngenta emphasized it has sold or is selling much of its farmland in the U.S.,adding it now owns fewer than 1,000 agricultural acres across the country.

“Syngenta’s land holdings and business acquisitions have been examined by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) through several administrations, including the previous Trump Administration,” Syngenta said in a statement. “Syngenta regularly discloses its real estate interests to CFIUS to maintain transparency and operates in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.”

Navarro scoffed at previous examinations, “CFIUS, a Greek word, I think, for doing nothing, right? But not under the Trump Administration.”

“The more land [China] acquires here, the more control they have,” he added. “And it’s a business model. I mean, we’re the United States, but they treat us like a colony. They do this same damn thing down in Zambia with tobacco, and around all of Africa. They buy land, they bring in Chinese workers to work the land, and then they ship the food back to China, and the people around starve or pay higher prices. So when you ask us, what’s this about? It’s about everything.”

More to Come?

Responding to questions on how land owned by Syngenta might be affected, Rollins said, “We’ll continue to announce further steps.”

Without an update, there is no way to tell if the Trump Administration will crack down on major agribusinesses.

“You’ll likely see an executive order on this very soon from the White House and we’ll be looking at multiple, different authorities within the federal government,” Rollins said. No executive order has been issued yet.