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119-s-4391119th CongressWALLET

Farmland for Farmers Act of 2026

Sponsored By: Senator Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]

Introduced

Summary

Prevent corporate and institutional ownership of agricultural land. This bill would ban unauthorized legal entities from acquiring or holding farm land and create a rules, reporting, and enforcement system with enumerated exceptions for research, nonprofits, cooperatives, heirs’ property, municipal holdings, fiduciary holdings, and existing owners.

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  • Families and small farmers: Helps keep land in the hands of natural persons who are ‘‘actively engaged in farming’’ and lets current owners keep land acquired before enactment.
  • Institutional investors and pension funds: Unauthorized entities would be barred from buying or holding agricultural land and could face divestiture, civil fines up to 2x the land’s fair market value, and criminal penalties up to 5 years for knowing violations.
  • Farmers and lenders: Acquirers must file certifying affidavits at acquisition and annual affidavits with federal tax returns; USDA program and Farm Credit System eligibility depends on compliance.
  • States and state attorneys general: States may adopt equal or stricter rules and sue as parens patriae, with civil penalties up to $3,000 per day and a cap equal to the greater of $1.0 million or the land’s fair market value.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

6 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 4 mixed.

Tough penalties and forced divestiture

This bill would give federal and state authorities strong enforcement tools. The Secretary could seek civil fines up to twice the land's fair market value for each violation. The Attorney General could sue, record court orders, and require illegal owners to divest within one year or the land would be sold at a public foreclosure-style sale. Knowing violations by natural persons could carry up to 5 years in prison, and State attorneys general could seek civil penalties up to $3,000 per day capped at the greater of $1,000,000 or the land interest's value.

New farm ownership limits

This bill would bar "unauthorized" legal entities from buying or holding U.S. agricultural land except in narrow cases. It would define an "authorized" entity as one owned only by natural persons who are "actively engaged in farming," with no more than 25 owners and no multilayered subsidiaries. "Actively engaged" would mean making important farm management decisions often or doing physical farm work; merely supplying capital would not count. These rules would shift who can own farm land toward family and farmer-owned entities and away from institutional investors.

Limited research and seed ownership

This bill would allow legal entities to acquire and hold farm land for research, experimental activities, or producing public seed varieties if commercial sales from the land are incidental. "Incidental" would mean such commercial sales are less than 25 percent of the gross sales of the primary research or seed product.

New farm land reporting rules

This bill would require legal entities that acquire farm land after enactment to sign an affidavit at acquisition and to file an annual affidavit with their Federal tax return starting the first taxable year after enactment. It would make proof of compliance a condition for USDA and Farm Credit System program help applied for after enactment. The USDA would publish an annual report on violations and must refer likely unlawful holdings to the Attorney General.

Five-year hold limit for some land

This bill would let a legal entity that gets farm land by process of law or from a contract for deed executed before enactment keep the land only if it disposes of it within five years. That five-year limit would run with the title. The land generally could not be farmed during the five years unless leased to an authorized farming entity in line with the Act.

States can set stricter farm rules

This bill would let States adopt rules about who may own agricultural land that are at least as strict as the federal rule and allow States to be even stricter. States would keep investigatory powers for enforcement, and other state officers could sue if State law authorizes them. State rules could therefore be tighter for nonresident or out-of-state owners.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]

NJ • D

Cosponsors

  • Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]

    VT • I

    Sponsored 4/27/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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