Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins revealed that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is rolling out the National Farm Security Action Plan, which will “promote agricultural prosperity” and “defend the foundations of agriculture” and strengthen the U.S. domestic food supply.
During a virtual pen & pad event on Monday evening, ahead of a press conference on Tuesday, Rollins explained that the plan includes “seven key action items.” One of the key action items focused on “securing and protecting the American farmland,” while another key point focused on “rooting out fraud, abuse, and foreign adversaries” that were posing a threat to the U.S. nutrition safety net and food stamp programs.
“First we are securing and protecting the American farmland — first of the seven. Within that number one, we all know that land owned by foreign nationals can pose a threat to national security and future economic prosperity. Too much American land is owned by nationals of adversarial countries, and more than 265,000 acres in the United States are owned by Chinese nationals — much of which is located near critical U.S. military bases,” Rollins explained.
“The second pillar; we are enhancing the resilience of the agricultural supply chain. American agriculture is currently at a disadvantage on the world stage because the production of key ag-inputs and the transportation of American ag-commodities around the world rely on components produced in other countries, including some of our foreign adversaries. To address this imbalance, we are conducting regular assessments, creating lists, ensuring that every day we are focused on exactly what this looks like. How to identify risks and security vulnerabilities to the food critical infrastructure sector, and then providing solutions to those assessments,” Rollins added.
“The third pillar; rooting out fraud, abuse, and foreign adversaries that threaten the U.S. nutrition safety net. You all know that the largest program at USDA is not a farming program, it’s actually the SNAP or the food stamp program. And, vulnerabilities within that payment system are a persistent target of transnational criminals and gangs,” Rollins continued. “Law enforcement has identified a troubling trend of transnational criminal organizations stealing from the poor and the American taxpayer by cloning point of sale devices and card skimming. To address this vulnerability, USDA is actively ensuring no funds across the department’s sixteen nutrition programs are being used to fund activities related to terrorism or criminal activity. In addition, the department will disqualify authorized retailers that are complicit in SNAP fraud, or otherwise demonstrate a lack of responsible business behavior to transact purchases made with SNAP.”
Rollins added that the USDA would be enhancing research security, noting that the U.S. “agricultural research enterprise is vulnerable to foreign influence, intellectual property theft” and agroterrorism threats.
“To address this risk, USDA is instituting a new process to ensure that all research funded by USDA provides value to American farmers, ranchers, producers, and foresters,” Rollins explained.
The USDA will also be “evaluating every USDA policy to ensure alignment” with President Donald Trump’s America First agenda, Rollins continued.
“USDA programs have a history of supporting other countries, and adversarial interests, including foreign adversaries seeking research and development funding,” Rollins added. “Recent USDA policy allowed companies in foreign countries, even those from countries of concern, to be placed in the bio-preferred program catalog for mandatory federal purchasing and voluntary labeling initiatives. Those countries include, China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia.”
Rollins added that the USDA would be “revoking bio-preferred certifications to entities located” in China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia, and that the USDA would “immediately” be prioritizing “all USDA funding in America for American-made technology, research, and innovation.”
“Number six; safeguarding plant and animal health — this made the news recently,” Rollins continued. “Unintentional or intentional, agricultural biosecurity threats such as invasive species, foreign animal diseases, and pathogens pose a serious risk to the resilience of American agriculture. To address this threat, USDA is partnering with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, and other federal research agencies to ensure ag-products funded by DARPA promote military readiness, protect U.S. plants and animals on farms, and enhance agricultural security.”
Rollins added that the final key point is focused on “protecting critical infrastructure,” and that “attacks on agricultural companies” can lead to disruptions in “critical operations and cause significant losses.”
Breitbart News reported that Rollins revealed in February that the Trump administration was looking into ways for the “federal government to stop China from purchasing American farmland.”
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