Kristin Del Rosso

Farmyard Gossip: The Foreign Footprint in U.S. Agriculture

Who really owns America’s farmland, and why does it matter? Join us for a deep dive into the secretive world of foreign investment in U.S. agricultural land. This talk will explore the growing trend of foreign ownership, which has surged by 50% since 2017, and its profound implications for national security. Using the USDA’s data, we’ll shed light on how these investments could potentially impact everything from local economies to national defense.

We’ll dive into the complexities of the USDA’s data collection methods, revealing how manual processes and outdated systems obscure the true extent of foreign ownership. We’ll also discuss the critical role of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) in safeguarding national interests, and the urgent need for improved data sharing and automation between CFIUS and the USDA.

Through real-life examples, including controversial land purchases near sensitive military sites, we’ll illustrate the potential risks and propose actionable recommendations to enhance transparency and security.

Kristin Del Rosso is co-founder and managing director of DevSec, a research firm that provides advanced analytics blended with cyber investigation techniques to support analytics, investigations, and intelligence enrichment in novel ways. Prior to DevSec, she worked as the Public Sector Field CTO at Sophos, and has a background in security product management, threat intelligence, and reverse engineering.