This piece was originally published in the American Mind.
Foreign ownership of American farmland has raised bipartisan concern from all levels of government, from governors like Ron DeSantis of Florida to senators such as Iowa’s Chuck Grassley and Michigan’s Debbie Stabenow. Foreign ownership of American farmland went from 1 percent in 2000 to 2.9 percent in 2020, a 290 percent increase over the past twenty years.
With the rise in foreign ownership in American cropland come new security risks. Recently, Chinese companies have been buying agricultural land close to American military bases, raising concerns about their intentions.
Historically, the United States did not systematically collect data on foreign ownership of American agricultural land, largely because such ownership was minimal. Spurred by fears of OPEC countries buying American cropland in 1978, Congress passed the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) to track foreign ownership of American agricultural land.
Click here to read the full piece in the American Mind.
