Farmland Security Act of 2023

To amend the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to remove the limitation on the amount of a civil penalty, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Farmland Security Act of 2023 2. Improving agricultural foreign investment disclosure (a) Civil penalty Section 3 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3502 (1) in subsection (a), by striking the second sentence; (2) in subsection (b)— (A) by striking The amount Except as provided in subsection (c), the amount (B) by striking Act, Act. (3) by adding at the end the following: (c) Penalty for shell corporations (1) Definition of shell corporation In this subsection, the term shell corporation (2) Amount of penalty The amount of a civil penalty under subsection (a) for a foreign-owned shell corporation, as determined by the Secretary, shall be 100 percent of the fair market value, on the date of the assessment of the penalty, of the interest in agricultural land with respect to which the violation occurred. (3) Nonapplication of penalty A shell corporation shall not be subject to a civil penalty under this section if the shell corporation remedies a defective filing or failure to file not later than 60 days after the Secretary provides notice to the shell corporation of the defective filing or failure to file. . (b) Investigative actions Section 4 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3503 (1) by striking The Secretary (a) In general The Secretary ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (b) Audit The Secretary shall conduct an annual compliance audit of not less than 10 percent of the reports submitted under section 2 for the year covered by the audit to ensure the completeness and accuracy of reports submitted under that section. In conducting, such audit, the Secretary may consult with such other heads of such other Federal agencies as the Secretary determines appropriate. (c) Training The Secretary shall provide annual training to State and county-level personnel relating to identifying agricultural land for which— (1) a report is required to be submitted under section 2; but (2) no report has been submitted by the applicable foreign person. . (c) Reports Section 6 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3505 (1) by striking the section designation and heading and all that follows through Not later than 6. Reports (a) To States Not later than ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (b) To Congress (1) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Farmland Security Act of 2023 (2) Research The Secretary shall carry out research on— (A) the agricultural leasing activities in the United States of foreign persons, including the impact of those activities on family farms, rural communities, and the domestic food supply; (B) trends relating to the purchase of agricultural land in the United States by foreign-owned shell corporations; and (C) foreign ownership of agricultural production capacity and foreign participation in agricultural economic activity in the United States. . (d) Authorization of appropriations The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. 11. Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this Act $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028. .

Summary: Farmland Security Act of 2023This bill authorizes increased civil penalties for violations of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (AFIDA) and increases Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversight of and research into foreign investment in agricultural land. (AFIDA and the regulations that implemented the act require foreign investors who acquire, transfer, or hold an interest in U.S. agricultural land to report such holdings and transactions to USDA.) In general, the bill allows USDA to determine an appropriate civil penalty amount for an AFIDA violation by removing the cap that currently prohibits the civil penalty from exceeding 25% of the fair market value of the interest in the land.The bill provides an exception for a shell corporation (i.e., a corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, joint stock company, trust, or estate that has no or nominal operations). An AFIDA civil penalty for a foreign-owned shell corporation must be 100% of the fair market value of the interest in the agricultural land associated with the violation. The penalty does not apply if the shell corporation remedies a defective filing or failure to file within 60 days of USDA providing notice.  USDA must conduct annual compliance audits of at least 10% of the reports. Further, USDA must provide state and county-level personnel annual training in identifying agricultural land for which a report must be submitted.USDA must also annually conduct research and submit a report to Congress on foreign investment in agricultural land, including trends in the purchase of U.S. agricultural land by foreign-owned shell corporations.