WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD News) — Foreign ownership of U.S. farmland continues to draw attention in Washington and state capitols, but the debate extends beyond who owns the land.
Harrison Pittman with the National Agricultural Law Center says the issue often comes down to competing concerns, including national security, economic opportunity and a landowner’s right to decide what to do with private property.
“Some people think it’s not problematic. Some people think it’s terribly problematic. I know that sounds like a non-answer, but it’s sort of ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ on that. You have some landowners right now who are saying the last three years, particularly in crop production, have not been so great. Here I have an opportunity to put development rights for solar or wind on my property. And it’s a guaranteed cash flow. It came from the Netherlands, or often, it actually could be a U.S. company that is considered a foreign person. Others have opined that: ‘It’s private property, right? It’s my property. I should have a right to sell it to the highest bidder.’”
Pittman says the amount of U.S. agricultural land held by Chinese investors is another part of the debate.
“Out of that 46 million acres that’s currently in ag land, there’s less than 250,000 acres that are held by some type of Chinese investor. That’s less than 1% of all foreign-owned acres, just to kind of put that in perspective.”
Pittman added that those competing concerns continue to shape the debate over foreign investment in U.S. farmland.
