USDA/DoW National Farm Security Action Plan

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that memorializes the relationship between the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and War (DoW) to implement the National Farm Security Action Plan. The MOU launches a partnership between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and USDA’s Office of the Chief Scientist to share information about agriculture security vulnerabilities, partner on the development of novel technology, and exchange personnel. 

Secretaries Rollins and Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem launched the National Farm Security Action Plan in July 2025 to elevate the relationship between agriculture and national security. Since then, USDA has taken several steps focused on addressing potential threats to the food supply such as initiating rulemaking surrounding the disclosure of foreign investments in U.S. agricultural land, standardizing terms and conditions across USDA grant and cooperative agreement programs, and developing new research and development priorities to emphasize the importance of safeguarding American agriculture. 

USDA also announced the creation of the Office of Research, Economic, and Science Security within the USDA Office of the Chief Scientist to coordinate security efforts across the USDA research enterprise. This new office is part of the agency’s implementation of National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 and other research security directives.