Guess Who Is Buying Up U.S. Farmland Now? Sarah Anderson
With all this talk about the Chinese government infiltrating the United States through TikTok, many have asked: Aren’t the Chinese already doing so through the purchase of U.S. farmland?
About a year and a half ago, Georgia Rep. Mike Collins delivered a speech to the U.S. House of Representatives, citing a 2021 report that China owned 384,000 acres of American agricultural land at that time — a 30% jump between 2019 and 2020 — and some of that land surrounded an Air Force base in North Dakota, making it a clear threat to national security. Grand Forks, N.D., apparently ended up denying building permits to the Chinese-based food manufacturer that purchased that land and denied access to industrial infrastructure after the mayor called the federal response “slow and contradictory” and an Air Force official called it a “significant threat.”
While on the campaign trail in 2024, Donald Trump called these types of Chinese investments a “threat to American farmers” and promised that if he were elected, he’d block Chinese nationals from purchasing any additional land. When he met with a group of farmers in Pennsylvania in September, they expressed other concerns beyond national security, such as driving up prices and eliminating a future generation of American farmers and ranchers.
“My concern today is with foreign [sic] buying up farmland, young Americans can’t afford to buy a farm or even get started,” said beef farmer Todd Reamer, who has owned his farm for three decades. “I know there are young farmers out there who really aspire to own a farm or ranch but can’t because of the high costs. We hear the word ‘sustainable,’ but to stay sustainable we need to give Americans a chance to own farms and ranches so they can continue to produce the safest food supply in the world for generations to come.”
But it turns out it’s not just China buying up our farmland. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s most recent report, “46 million acres of crop, pasture and forest lands were held by investors from outside of the United States” at the end of 2023, and that number, which totals about 3.6% of all private land, seems to be rising. Canada is the largest foreign landholder in our country by far, followed by European countries like the Netherlands, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
Between 2022 and 2023, Chinese land ownership actually declined a bit, though 2024 numbers aren’t yet available. Land ownership by Iran and Cuba also declined, but Canada and Australia have increased their stake with plans to use the land for renewable energy purposes.
While the federal response to the situation has been slow and controversial, about half of all states have put restrictions in place to prevent or limit foreign entities from owning American land. In 2023 alone, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Indiana, Montana, Idaho, Utah, North Dakota, and South Dakota all passed such laws. Detractors say that these limitations will actually hurt the states’ and federal economies.
On Wednesday, in a bipartisan effort to combat this growing trend of foreign land ownership in the U.S., Senators John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) joined together to reintroduce the Foreign Adversary Risk Management or FARM Act.
According to a press release from Tuberville’s office, the bill would “permanently add the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS), the governmental body that oversees the vetting process of foreign investment and acquisition of American companies. Currently, CFIUS does not directly consider the needs of the agriculture industry when reviewing foreign investment and ownership in domestic businesses.”
Both senators released statements. From Tuberville:
Over the last decade, we’ve seen a surge of American farmland purchases from our foreign adversaries. These foreign investments are now reaching every piece of the very large puzzle that makes up our agriculture industry, from farming and processing to packaging and shipping. Food security is national security, and we cannot allow our adversaries to have a foot in the door to our critical supply chains. We must prioritize oversight of foreign investment in our food supply chains, especially from Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. This starts with giving the agriculture community a permanent seat at the table on CFIUS. As Alabama’s voice on the Senate Ag Committee, I will keep fighting to secure our ag supply chains so that our agriculture community can continue to put food on the table for American families.
From Fetterman:
Pennsylvania is home to about 50,000 farms and the farmers who power them already face enough challenges to stay competitive. They shouldn’t also have to compete with foreign adversaries buying up American farmland. America’s farms are critical infrastructure, and CFIUS exists to protect our critical infrastructure from foreign threats. So, adding the Secretary of Agriculture is just plain common sense. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: foreign adversaries have no business owning American farmland. This bill makes that clear and I’m proud to partner with my colleague to get it done.
In addition to adding the secretary of agriculture to CFIUS, the bill would “require a report to Congress on current and potential foreign investments in the U.S. agricultural industry from USDA and the Government Accountability Office (GAO)” and “protect the U.S. agriculture industry from foreign control through transactions, mergers, acquisitions, or agreements; designate agricultural supply chains as critical infrastructure and critical technologies.”
So, what do you think? Is it a good idea for state and federal governments to step in and prevent the sale of U.S. farmland to foreign countries in the name of national security and an “America first” ideology? Or is this an example of government overreach that could harm the economy? Let us know in the comments.
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