USDA and Department of Defense to deepen farm-security partnership; officials announce MOU and new research-security office

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Defense signaled a deeper partnership on agriculture and national security on the podium at a public event where USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins outlined regulatory and programmatic steps aimed at limiting foreign influence in U.S. farmland.

"Farm security is national security," Rollins said, arguing that threats to the nation's food and agriculture supply chain include cyberattacks, research theft and purchases of U.S. farmland by foreign actors. She said, "China alone owns 265,000 acres of American agricultural land," adding that "back in 1983, it was only 2,000 acres," figures she presented as evidence of rising foreign investment.

Rollins described a package of measures intended to tighten oversight of foreign investment and research security. Among the actions she listed were a notice of rulemaking to modernize reporting under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, development of an online filing system for enhanced AFI reports, an online portal for farmers and the public to report suspected false reporting, designation of key fertilizer inputs as critical minerals, and steps to root out fraud in nutrition programs. She also said USDA would standardize terms across grant and cooperative-agreement programs and would block taxpayer funding for solar panels from China and limit certain biopreferred certifications for entities in "countries of concern."

Rollins also announced the creation of an Office of Research Economic and Science Security within the USDA Office of the Chief Scientist to coordinate research-security efforts across both intramural and extramural USDA activity. She tied the measures to earlier federal guidance, citing "national security presidential memorandum 33" from a prior administration as part of the policy background.

"In just a few minutes, Secretary Hegseth and I will sign a memorandum of understanding that paves the way for additional collaboration between the Department of War and the United States Department of Agriculture," Rollins said, using the term that appears in the transcript. At the event Pete Hegseth, identified in the transcript as "secretary Hegseth," spoke about the DoD's role and DARPA's capabilities.

Hegseth said the partnership would promote agricultural and economic prosperity, defend food-system foundations and strengthen domestic productivity. He emphasized that nontraditional threats — including aerial drones, biothreats and supply-chain infiltration — make agricultural security a national-security priority. "Food security is national security. Full stop," he said.

Hegseth described DARPA's research-and-development role and said collaboration could yield technologies that both support military readiness and contribute to agricultural innovation. At the close of his remarks he proposed finalizing the memorandum of understanding at the event.

The public remarks referenced several state partnerships and named Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen as leaders taking state-level steps on foreign farmland purchases. Rollins said USDA has already worked with state partners in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Nebraska on legislative and executive approaches.

Rollins' claims about acreage owned by China and other numerical statements were presented as speaker assertions during the event and were not independently verified in the remarks. The officials framed the measures as administrative and interagency steps rather than actions requiring new legislation; the event record shows announced intentions for rulemaking and new reporting tools and the planned signing of a memorandum of understanding.

Next steps described at the event include the notice of rulemaking on foreign-investment reporting, development of online AFI filing and reporting portals, and the operational stand-up of the USDA Office of Research Economic and Science Security. The transcript records the officials' statement of intent to sign an MOU at the event; the public record in the transcript indicates the signing was proposed but does not include a posted, notarized or otherwise authenticated copy of the final executed agreement within the spoken record.