Rep. Tokuda introduces legislation to protect farmland from corporate land grabs

US Rep. Jill N. Tokuda (HI-02) introduced the Farmland for Farmers Act, legislation to curb the rise in corporate ownership of agricultural land and keep farmland in the hands of farmers. US Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) has introduced companion legislation.  

Tokuda said corporations and private investors are leveraging their vast resources to buy up American farmland as speculative assets, squeezing out family farmers and destabilizing rural economies. The Farmland for Farmers Act prohibits corporations from purchasing or leasing agricultural land and restricts them from accessing farm assistance through USDA and the Farm Credit System. These reforms, she said, protect the autonomy of rural communities and secure a more stable, competitive domestic food supply.   

This bill comes after Tokuda’s listening sessions with farmers and producers across Hawaiʻi, where she heard concerns regarding the rising cost of farmland and the threat of corporate consolidation. 

“For generations, our farmers and ranchers have served as the backbone of Hawaiʻi’s economy, but today they are being pushed to the breaking point. We are seeing a dangerous trend where agricultural land is auctioned off as a corporate investment, directly threatening food security and pricing the next generation of farmers out of their own communities,” said Tokuda. “I have heard firsthand from producers who are being outbid for the very soil that has yielded staple crops for decades. The Farmland for Farmers Act draws a line in the sand and stops this corporate land grab in its tracks.” 

“It is fundamentally unacceptable that Wall Street investors and hedge funds are buying up millions of acres of American soil, treating our farmland like just another tradable asset in a corporate portfolio,” said Booker. “This rampant speculation is driving land prices sky-high and making it nearly impossible for a new generation who want to start farming to access the land they need. When corporations treat agriculture as a line item to boost their profit margins, they hollow out the rural communities that rely on family farms to survive and thrive. Our farmland is not a commodity for Wall Street to exploit; it is the heritage and lifeblood of rural America. By reintroducing the Farmland for Farmers Act, we are working to stop this corporate land grab and ensure that the future of our food system belongs to the people who actually work the land.” 

The Farmland for Farmers Act would:  

• Restrict corporations, multilayered subsidiaries, pension funds and investment funds from purchasing or leasing agricultural land. These types of corporations would be allowed to continue owning farmland they already own, but these corporate owners would not have future access to USDA and Farm Credit System programs and benefits, which should not be used to underwrite speculative corporate farmland investments.  
• Not apply to corporations with 25 or fewer shareholders, partners, members, or beneficial owners who are all actively engaged in farming; non-profit corporations; farmer cooperatives; or to farmland owned by a legal entity formed by owners of heirs’ property. 
• Strengthen State authority to regulate corporations, both domestic and foreign, involved in farmland ownership. 
• Authorize imposition of penalties on corporate entities that violate ownership restrictions.  

“Hawaiʻi Farmers Union supports the Farmland for Farmers Act because agricultural land should remain in the hands of farmers, not speculative corporate interests.” said Kirsten Ham, Chief Operating Officer of the Hawaiʻi Farmers Union. “This bill helps protect local food production, strengthen family farms, and support the long-term future of agriculture in Hawaiʻi and across the country.” 

“Farmers — especially farmers of color and young and beginning farmers — across the US have seen a crisis involving institutional and corporate buyouts, exacerbating unfair land access and prices,” said Tiffany Bellfield El-Amin, Board Co-President of the National Family Farm Coalition and Executive Director of Kentucky Black Farmers Association. “They prey on struggling farmers and their communities to exploit the land for uses that neither serve nor feed the community, nor employ its residents. Resources are limited and often gatekept due to these corporate buyouts – we must prevent institutional buyers from using resources that farmers rely on for their livelihoods. The Farmland for Farmers Act does more than protect access to farmland; it protects land prices and sustainability which farmers need to continue feeding our families and communities.”   

“The United States is in the midst of a historic transition of agricultural land—nearly half of farmland will change hands over the next two decades. At the same time, land access is the number one challenge the next generation of farmers face. Speculative investment in land is directly and negatively impacting the ability of young and Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) farmers to compete in agricultural real estate markets to gain the security and tenure they need,” said Vanessa Garcia Polanco, Policy and Campaigns Director with the National Young Farmers Coalition. “The Farmland for Farmers Act is a thoughtful and imperative policy response to this trend. At Young Farmers, we are committed to ensuring a just agricultural future for a new generation of working farmers. We believe that public policy has shaped land use and our food system and policies like this one are part of the necessary, thought-out change required to tackle these challenges.” 

The original cosponsors of the bill are Reps. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Shri Thanedar (D-MI). 

Full text of the bill may be found here.