Are U.S. farmland acres being threatened?

The long-standing tradition of private ownership of land is one of the strengths of our great nation. This is especially so for American farmland, where individual producers make decisions about which crop(s) they will grow and how they grow them. Government programs have somewhat tempered that concept, but the land is still owned by individual farmers or farm families who expect the land to be used for the production of food and fiber. And these farmers have the freedom to do what they want with their land.

There are many facets to food security in the U.S., and the capability of U.S. farmers to produce crops in response to preferences of U.S. citizens is just one. To that end, much has been written about the increase in foreign ownership of farmland in this country, and how that could affect food security for U.S. citizens. After all, feeding the U.S. population is or should be the logical priority of those who own/farm U.S. land.

The below-linked articles provide the latest information on the issue of U.S. farmland security. The narrative following each link provides the main point(s) contained in each article.

Arkansas’ unique law on foreign ownership of agricultural lands by Drew Viguet of the Univ. of Arkansas National Agricultural Law Center summarizes how Arkansas legislation [Senate Bill 383 that was enacted in April 2023] will restrict a prohibited foreign party [PFP–individuals, entities, and governments of a country other than the U.S.] from purchasing or owning agricultural land in Arkansas.

Foreign-owned U.S. farmland acres rose more than 8% in 2022 by Leah Douglas reports that the number of U.S. farm acres owned by foreign entities increased by more than 8% in 2022, which was just 3-4% of U.S. agricultural land at that time. The biggest increases were in Colorado, Alabama, and Michigan. Canada is the largest foreign investor in such land, and most of their owned acreage is forestland in Maine.

Arkansas enforces foreign-owned farmland ban by Mary Hightower of the Univ. of Arkansas reports that Arkansas became the first U.S. state to enforce a state law that bans certain foreign entities from owning agricultural land.

Foreign Ownership of U.S. Agricultural Land [Mar. 2023] by Tori Smith of the American Action Forum reports results from research that found that about 3% of the roughly 1.3 billion acres of privately-owned U.S. agricultural land was fully or partially foreign-owned in 2021. Thus, foreign entities owned only a small fraction of U.S. agricultural land in 2021. As of Jan. 2023, 14 states prohibited or restricted foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land, and the U.S. Congress was debating the imposition of federal restrictions on foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land at the time this research was conducted.

Foreign farmland ownership laws vary by state [Southwest FarmPress] features a Q & A session with the National Agriculture Law Center. The following points are gleaned from that session as reported in the above-linked article.

•   In general, a “foreign ownership law” is a law that restricts certain foreign individuals, foreign entities, or foreign governments from acquiring, transferring, holding, or investing in U.S. real estate, specifically including private agricultural land located within the U.S.

•   There are no states with an absolute prohibition on foreign ownership. However, about 21 states specifically forbid or limit nonresident aliens, foreign business entities, or foreign governments from acquiring or owning an interest in private agricultural land within their state.

•   Each of the 21 states has taken its own approach to the restricting of foreign ownership of farmland within its borders.

•   As of May 2023, 7 states have enacted a foreign ownership law during their most recent legislative session.

Foreign-owned acres of U.S. farmland may be underreported [Sept. 28, 2023] by Mary Hightower of the Univ. of Arkansas reports that there may be a gap in reporting on foreign ownership of U.S. farmland and its effects on America’s food system. Legislative activity at both the federal and state levels regarding this issue has greatly increased since 2021. There are few U.S. states that have not had at least one proposal introduced to address the issue.

Which foreign country owns the most farmland in the U.S.? Hint: It’s not China [Jan. 2024] by Tyne Morgan reports that Canada at 32% and not China is the major foreign owner of U.S. farmland acres. Most of Canada’s holdings are forestland in Maine. According to the USDA, forestland is the most foreign-owned type of agricultural land, followed by cropland and pasture.

China is buying up American farmland, [Jan. 19, 2024] is a report by Kim Chapman that states that foreign ownership of U.S. cropland is drawing attention from Washington as concern about possible threats to national security issues, including food supply chains, rises. Also, there are problems with how the U.S. tracks foreign ownership data–e.g. USDA’s reliance on self-reporting–and this creates difficulty in knowing just how much U.S. land is involved. In recent months, lawmakers have called for a crackdown on sales of U.S. farmland to foreign nations.

Government report raises concerns about foreign ag ownership [Jan. 22, 2024] by Joshua Baethge cites a U.S. Governement Accountability Office report that says that the USDA needs to do a better job of collecting, tracking, and sharing data on foreign investment in/ownership of U.S. agricultural land.

Blackburn, Tuberville lead effort to protect ag industry from foreign interference reports on the introduction of bipartisan legislation that has been introduced in the U.S. Congress to protect America’s agricultural industry from improper foreign investment. One piece of the legislation would “add language to protect the U.S. agricultural industry from foreign control through transactions, mergers, acquisitions, or agreements, and designate agricultural supply chains as critical infrastructure and critical technology”.

U.S. lost 142,000 farms according to ag census [Feb. 2024] by Joshua Baethge reports that U.S. farmland declined by almost 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. This finding raises concerns about the state of agriculture and food production in this country. After all, the continued production of quality food on U.S. farms is closely tied to food security for both the U.S. and world populations.

U.S. farmland acres controlled by U.S. farmers is the key to the continued production of crops that support the food supply in the U.S. Also, the potential issues associated with foreign ownership of U.S. farmland coupled with the loss of U.S. farmland acres to urban sprawl and renewable energy installations means potentially fewer acres to produce the crops that are needed to ensure U.S. food security. It is therefore incumbent on both state and federal lawmakers to monitor the loss of U.S. farmland to ensure that this loss does not jeopardize the capability to produce the amount of food needed to maintain food security in this country.

Composed by Larry G. Heatherly, July 2024, larryh91746@gmail.com