The Farmland for Farmers Act of 2026 restricts corporate ownership of agricultural land by limiting farmland purchases to small farmer-owned entities with 25 or fewer active farmer-owners and no complex ownership structures, while explicitly prohibiting investment firms, pension funds, and other passive investors from acquiring agricultural land. The bill establishes that "actively engaged in farming" means farmers must be hands-on operators rather than passive capital providers, and it defines agricultural land broadly to include cropland, pasture, forestland, and recently idle agricultural land. To enforce these restrictions, legal entities must submit sworn compliance affidavits when purchasing farmland and annually with their tax returns, and any entity seeking USDA or Farm Credit System program participation must provide compliance documentation, with unauthorized entities barred from accessing federal agricultural programs and credits. The legislation also empowers individual states to establish their own farmland ownership regulations that are at least as strict as the federal requirements, allowing states to impose even stricter standards on who can own agricultural land within their borders. This approach targets smaller farming operations and farmer-led entities while preventing large corporate and investment-based ownership of U.S. farmland.
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