Items Tagged with 'AFIDA'

A package of fiscal 2024 spending bills released by congressional leaders Sunday includes new provisions to address concerns about foreign acquisition of U.S. farmland and agribusiness interests and also provides full funding for the Women, Infants and Children nutrition assistance program.

USDA staff fail to “sufficiently verify” the accuracy of foreign land ownership data and are slow to share information on those landholdings with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the Government Accountability Office says in a long-awaited audit. 

The Agriculture Department is working to update its system for tracking agricultural land leases and purchases to appease lawmaker demands, but staffing and funding limitations have limited the agency to "low-cost" options, a department official told the Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday. 

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told members of a House Appropriations subcommittee Monday that he has hired more staff to track foreign farmland purchases after a three-year gap in his department’s application of disclosure penalties.