Why it Matters

Almarai, the Saudi multinational dairy and food conglomerate, has filed a 2026 LDA year-end filing formally closing out its lobbying registration termination with Barrett Marson, the sole lobbyist the company had retained for its U.S. advocacy work. The Almarai lobbying termination, documented in a 2026 Year-end Termination Amendment, reflects the end of a relationship that dates back to at least 2023.

The Almarai lobbying disclosure record shows a strikingly thin U.S. lobbying footprint. Barrett Marson — operating first through Marson Media LLC and later as an individual lobbyist — had only one client across all of his LDA filings: Almarai. Every filing in the record, spanning 2023 through 2026, reported $0 in lobbying income and listed no specific issues lobbied, no named lobbyists, and no legislation tracked.

That means the financial impact of this foreign company U.S. lobbying termination on Barrett Marson is, at least on paper, negligible — the disclosed compensation was zero throughout the relationship. But the termination does close out what was, for Marson, the entirety of his registered lobbying practice.

Almarai is not a small company. It reported approximately $5.59 billion in revenue in 2024 and is described as the world's largest vertically integrated dairy company, headquartered in Riyadh and listed on the Saudi stock exchange. The absence of any disclosed lobbying expenditures across the entire relationship is notable given the scale of the company and the policy environment it was navigating.

There is no disclosure in the available data indicating that Almarai has retained a new lobbying firm to replace Barrett Marson.

Broader Context:

Almarai's U.S. presence — and the policy exposure that would have driven any lobbying engagement — centers on its ownership of agricultural land in Arizona and California through its U.S. subsidiary, Fondomonte. The company has used that land to grow alfalfa hay, which is then shipped back to Saudi Arabia to feed its dairy herds.

That arrangement drew significant scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers concerned about a foreign company drawing down scarce desert water resources, particularly from the Harquahala Valley aquifer in Arizona. In 2023, La Paz County cancelled Fondomonte's water lease — a concrete, local-level setback for the company's operations.

At the federal level, the issue of foreign ownership of U.S. farmland has generated sustained congressional attention, with multiple bills introduced targeting disclosure requirements and ownership restrictions. No comprehensive federal legislation has passed, but the political salience of the issue has grown, particularly under the current administration's nationalist framing on foreign investment.

No Congressional Hearing Footprint

A search of congressional hearing statements found no direct mention of Almarai by name in any hearing over the past year. The 2026 LDA year-end filing itself lists no issues codes, no bills, and no specific lobbying activity — consistent with a registration that had been winding down rather than actively engaged.

The broader policy debate over foreign farmland ownership has continued in Congress, with hearings touching on agricultural policy and foreign investment.

A Tougher Political Environment

The current political environment presents particular headwinds for a Saudi company seeking to protect U.S. land and water rights. Concern about foreign ownership of American farmland has drawn bipartisan attention, and the current administration has taken an aggressive posture on foreign investment more broadly. That context makes the lobbying registration termination less surprising — the window for effective federal advocacy on this issue has narrowed considerably.

Bottom Line

With no new firm identified in the disclosure record as a replacement, it is unclear whether Almarai is actively seeking new U.S. lobbying representation or has stepped back from federal engagement entirely. What the termination filing does confirm is that a multi-year lobbying registration — one that was the sole basis of Barrett Marson's registered lobbying practice — has now formally concluded, at a moment when the policy issues most relevant to Almarai's U.S. operations remain unresolved on Capitol Hill.

Access the Legis1 platform for comprehensive political news, data, and insights.