Sample Legislation
Proposed Sample Legislation for Discussion and Adaptation
To spark discussion and provide a practical starting point for policymakers, the Farm Security Initiative has drafted a suite of sample bills addressing the core challenges facing American agriculture: land security, succession, ownership transparency, access to capital, cooperative development, conservation incentives, labor stability, rural technology, and more.
These bills are not prescriptions — they are frameworks, written to show what workable, bipartisan solutions can look like. Each draft is grounded in legislative precedent: from Iowa’s tenancy laws, Georgia’s incubator programs, and Wisconsin’s food hubs to international models such as France’s SAFER system, Japan’s Farmland Act, and Norway’s allodial inheritance rules. These examples demonstrate that the tools we propose already exist — proving their viability, legality, and practicality.
Every model bill can be adapted at the state or federal level and adjusted to fit the realities of different agricultural regions. As the Initiative continues to move forward, this page will be updated with actual legislation as it is introduced, debated, and refined.
For now, these drafts represent our best effort to provide constructive, actionable policy tools that keep land in family hands, strengthen rural communities, and secure America’s agricultural future.
Sample Bills for Discussion
Theme I: Land Security and Ownership
Protecting farmland from speculation, forced liquidation, and corporate consolidation ensures that land remains under local control and in productive use.
The Land Security Act
Protecting farmland from speculation, forced liquidation, and corporate consolidation ensures that land remains under local control and in productive use.
Farmland Trust Act
The Farmland Trust Act creates state-level farmland trusts with federal matching support, enabling communities to preserve working farmland for future generations.
Anti–Corporate Land Grab Act
The Anti–Corporate Land Grab Act ensures transparency and limits foreign or corporate consolidation of U.S. farmland.
Water Security for Agriculture Act
The Water Security for Agriculture Act protects farmers’ access to sustainable, affordable water resources through irrigation investment, watershed cooperation, and drought resilience programs.
Theme II: Farmers, Families, and the Next Generation
Strengthening the human side of farming — succession, entry for new farmers, veteran reintegration, and mental health support — ensures that land stewardship remains viable across generations.
Farm Succession & Next Generation Act
The Farm Succession & Next Generation Act supports intergenerational transfer of farmland by offering tax incentives, legal assistance, and succession planning programs.
Beginning & Young Farmer Support Act
The Beginning & Young Farmer Support Act lowers barriers to entry for new farmers through grants, training, mentorship, and access to affordable land and credit.
Veterans in Farming Act
The Veterans in Farming Act provides training, land access, startup support, and resilience services for U.S. military veterans pursuing agricultural careers.
Farmer Mental Health & Resilience Act
The Farmer Mental Health & Resilience Act expands access to counseling, crisis services, and peer support to address the high stress and suicide rates among farm families.
Theme III: Markets, Labor, and Community Investment
Strengthening the human side of farming — succession, entry for new farmers, veteran reintegration, and mental health support — ensures that land stewardship remains viable across generations.
Farm Labor Access Act
The Farm Labor Access Act expands access to legal, reliable, and fairly compensated agricultural labor, ensuring that family farms can meet workforce needs without exploitation.
Farmer Cooperative Development Act
The Farmer Cooperative Development Act provides technical assistance, credit access, and startup funding for farmer-owned cooperatives..
Community Farm Capital Act
The Community Farm Capital Act establishes local investment pools that allow citizens to invest directly in farms, keeping wealth local and providing affordable capital.
Fair Market Integrity Act
The Fair Market Integrity Act increases transparency and fairness in agricultural markets, preventing predatory pricing, anti-competitive practices, and manipulation.
Rural Technology & Farm Community Innovation Act
The Rural Technology & Farm Community Innovation Act supports rural technology hubs, farm innovation centers, and training programs that bring high-tech jobs and tools to farm country.
Theme IV: Resilience, Infrastructure, and Conservation
Family farms face climate shocks, market volatility, and infrastructure gaps that threaten survival. These bills provide the backbone of resilience — disaster protection, conservation incentives, broadband access, and local infrastructure.
Conservation Incentives Act
The Conservation Incentives Act rewards sustainable land management practices with direct payments, tax credits, and technical support.
Disaster Resilience for Farmers Act
The Disaster Resilience for Farmers Act creates insurance, grants, and recovery programs to help family farms survive floods, droughts, fires, and other disasters.
Local Food Infrastructure Act
The Local Food Infrastructure Act invests in regional food hubs, processing facilities, and distribution networks to keep more value with farmers and communities.
Rural Broadband & Technology Access Act
The Farmer Mental Health & Resilience Act expands access to counseling, crisis services, and peer support to address the high stress and suicide rates among farm families.
Theme V: Building on Proven Global Models
Across the world, independent democracies have already faced and solved the same pressures now threatening American agriculture: consolidation, speculation, and the loss of family ownership. These seven sample bills are not imitations but adaptations. Each is modeled on international precedent and written in the familiar structure of U.S. legislation so that lawmakers, advocates, and researchers can see how the underlying concepts function in practice.
Each of these international models has been translated into a proposed U.S. model. Together they demonstrate how proven global mechanisms—preemption, transparency, active-use requirements, family continuity, and tenure security—can be adapted to American law. These sample bills offer state and federal frameworks that preserve private enterprise while strengthening stewardship of farmland.
Family Farm Continuity Act
The Family Farm Continuity Act supports intergenerational farm transfer and residency-based ownership by encouraging states to prioritize succession within families and communities actively engaged in agriculture.
Farmland Ownership Transparency Act
The Farmland Ownership Transparency Act strengthens local control and public confidence in agricultural markets by requiring full disclosure of farmland ownership, beneficial interests, and foreign investment.
National Interest in Agricultural Investment Act
The National Interest in Agricultural Investment Act establishes transparent federal and state review of large-scale or foreign acquisitions of U.S. farmland to ensure that such transactions provide measurable public benefit and preserve national food security.
Farmland Preemption Act
The Farmland Preemption Act protects working farmland from speculative or non-agricultural acquisition by authorizing state-level preemption mechanisms modeled on successful international frameworks.
Inheritable Land Use Rights Act
The Inheritable Land Use Rights Act promotes long-term stability and productivity of working farmland by authorizing inheritable, renewable use rights for smallholders and tenants.
Idle Land Recovery and Renewal Act
The Idle Land Recovery and Renewal Act strengthens the productivity of underused farmland by creating state-level land banks that lease idle or fragmented parcels to active farmers and new entrants.
Secure Use Rights Act
The Secure Use Rights Act strengthens the stability and productivity of leased farmland by guaranteeing long-term tenants basic rights of renewal, investment protection, and participation in conservation programs.