Reporters from a non-profit investigative journalism organization have discovered that, over the last ten years, foreign investments in American farmlands have tripled.

Just The News reports that the group Investigate Midwest came to this conclusion by analyzing data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This trend can present a number of national security threats, according to Farm Action co-founder Joe Maxwell.

“The real question is, who do the people of the United States want to be their farmer?” Maxwell asked. “Do they want Saudi Arabia, Canada, China, other countries to be their farmer? Do they want Bayer or Cargill or other large corporations to be their farmer?”

The revelations build off of previously-expressed concerns in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which revealed the fragility of the international supply chain and thus heightened the risk of shortages and other crises in the United States. Maxwell said that Farm Action has been lobbying Congress for greater surveillance of foreign investments in American farms.