Madeleine Devost

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We’ll dive into the complexities of the USDA’s data collection methods, revealing how manual processes and outdated systems obscure the true extent of foreign ownership.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.

Madeleine Devost is an intelligence analyst at Nisos focusing on open-source investigations. Prior to Nisos, she worked as a threat intelligence and investigations consultant for a number of firms including Excivity, RiskIQ and Microsoft. Maddie was exposed to the cybersecurity community at a young age, attending her first lecture by DEF CON founder Jeff Moss at age 12 and attended her first DEF CON at age 16. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia where she studied International Relations, Arabic, and French.