“Today we tell China to get the hell out of American agriculture,” Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said.
Leaders from Nebraska and Kansas joined the Trump administration to announce a new plan to secure American farms from foreign threats.
Marshall reiterated his position, “Do not pass go, get the hell out of American agriculture and the Trump administration is going to lead the way.”
Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins leads the charge on the new effort dubbed the National Farm Security Action Plan, with a goal of banning adversaries from buying farm ground.
“Actively engaging at every level of government to take swift legislative and executive action to ban the purchase of American farmland by Chinese nationals and foreign adversaries,” Rollins said during a press conference.
It follows action in states like Nebraska, as Gov. Jim Pillen joined the event.
“What on earth is going on with China?”
Pillen, a hog farmer, said he grew concerned with China as a threat and in 2024 he signed legislation placing new limits on foreign ownership of Nebraska land.
He joined multiple cabinet officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Peter Navarro, a key presidential economic advisor, raised concerns about foreign ownership of key ag companies.
“The Chinese bought Smithfield Foods and basically control an eighth of the world pork supply now. We’ve had food inflation. That can be part of that. And the other key purchase we allowed was Syngenta. What is that? It’s a seed company,” he said.
Syngenta is headquartered in Switzerland, a multinational company that had bought out assets around the world before being acquired by a Chinese chemical company. Syngenta not only supplies Nebraska farmers but has multiple facilities in the state.
Now Governor Pillen says that’s changing.
“Syngenta called me, wanted to come to the capitol and have a meeting. I said I have no interest in having a meeting, have no interest in you being in Nebraska. My suggestion would be to leave, to get a different job. I’m really proud to announce that Syngenta has sold their business in Nebraska to a family owned genetic company in the US so we’re excited about that,” Pillen said.
Syngenta announced last week it was selling its Hamilton County seed corn plant to Midwest based Beck’s Hybrids. Scott Beck recently told us Nebraska is one of the fastest growing markets, as the family owned company has multiple facilities in Seward County.
Hamilton County Commission Chair Rich Nelson told the Rural Radio Network that Beck’s has signs everywhere and has made a big push in the area. Still, Nelson said commissioners were surprised to learn Beck’s was buying the Syngenta plant near Aurora but he said they have no information that Governor Pillen leveraged the China connection to bring about a sale.
In addition, Syngenta operates a Waterloo seeds facility and a crop protection facility in Omaha.
American agriculture relies on many multinational companies like Bayer and JBS. Both of those are from countries deemed friendly and now the ag secretary is joining CFIUS, the government panel that determines which countries are threats.
“If nothing else happened today having Brooke Rollins on that board, that’s a big deal,” Peter Navarro said.
Rollins did not outline specifics for how the administration will deal with Chinese companies.
“We are looking at every available option, there are multiple options, you’ll likely see an executive order soon from the white house with multiple authorities to begin to claw that back,” she said.
In addition to ownership of farm ground, Rollins said USDA is concerned about enemies infiltrating American ag research facilities to steal technology or launch cyberattacks.
She said the USDA will cancel agreements with countries of concern and said the country is removing 70 citizens from countries of concern who are working in research or under contracts with the USDA.
As the Trump administration sharpens its focus on securing American farmland, the message is clear: foreign adversaries are no longer welcome but it’s not clear how exactly they plan to deal with that.
The National Farm Security Action Plan takes action across seven areas, as outlined by USDA:
Secure and Protect American Farmland – Address U.S. foreign farmland ownership from adversaries head on. Total transparency. Tougher penalties.
Enhance Agricultural Supply Chain Resilience – Refocus domestic investment into key manufacturing sectors and identify non-adversarial partners to work with when domestic production is not available. Plan for contingencies.
Protect U.S. Nutrition Safety Net from Fraud and Foreign Exploitation – Billions have been stolen by foreign crime rings. That ends now.
Defend Agricultural Research and Innovation – No more sweetheart deals or secret pacts with hostile nations. American ideas stay in America.
Put America First in Every USDA Program – From farm loans to food safety, every program will reflect the America First agenda.
Safeguard Plant and Animal Health – Crack down on bio-threats before they ever reach our soil.
Protect Critical Infrastructure – Farms, food, and supply chains are national security assets—and will be treated as such.
