The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking comments on proposed updates to regulations implementing the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, known as AFIDA.
AFIDA requires foreign persons and entities to report certain acquisitions, transfers and holdings of U.S. agricultural land to USDA. The law is intended to provide transparency about foreign ownership interests in agricultural land but does not itself prohibit foreign ownership.
According to the National Association of Counties (NACo), USDA is inviting comments from counties and other stakeholders on the proposed rule by August 10, 2026. The proposal builds on USDA’s recent implementation of an online portal for reporting foreign-owned agricultural land transactions and possible AFIDA violations.
The proposal is relevant to counties because farmland ownership information often intersects with county-level land records, assessments, zoning, land use and agricultural economic development. Rural counties, county recorders, assessors, planning and zoning officials and agricultural stakeholders may have an interest in how foreign agricultural land ownership is reported, tracked and made transparent.
USDA’s proposed rule is part of a broader federal effort to improve the collection and accuracy of information about foreign-owned agricultural land. Potential issues for county review may include reporting processes, data availability, coordination with county records, enforcement, transparency and the extent to which local officials or members of the public can access or use information reported to USDA.
Counties and local stakeholders interested in farmland ownership transparency may wish to review the proposed rule and consider submitting comments before the August 10 deadline.
ISACo will continue to monitor federal developments related to AFIDA and foreign-owned agricultural land reporting.