Farmland for Farmers Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8531 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8531 To ban new corporate ownership of agricultural land, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 27, 2026 Ms. Tokuda (for herself, Mr. McGovern, and Mr. Thanedar) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To ban new corporate ownership of agricultural land, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Farmland for Farmers Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds that-- (1) it is the longstanding policy of the United States to foster and encourage the family farm system of agriculture in the United States; (2) the maintenance of the family farm system of agriculture is essential to the social and economic wellbeing and national security of the United States; (3) agricultural land is-- (A) a critical and limited resource of the United States that provides needed food and fiber for the people of the United States and others throughout the world; and (B) a source of wealth, including generational wealth, for the people of the United States; (4) since the 2008 financial crisis, corporations and, in particular, pension funds, have increasingly turned to farmland investment; (5) from 2005 to 2025-- (A) the number of institutionally-owned farm properties rose more than three-fold; and (B) the market value of that property increased from less than $2,000,000,000 to more than $16,000,000,000; (6) large corporate investors that own farmland-- (A) are more focused on short-term profits than long-term land conservation; and (B) have less interest than independent f