Christian Smith
WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Congress is scrambling to address foreign threats to American agriculture after a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report revealed that Chinese investors own a fraction of all foreign-owned farmland in the country .
China owns nearly 350,000 acres of farmland in 27 states, according to the most recent data from the USDA. As of 2022, foreign entities and individuals own 43.4 million acres of U.S. farmland, which represents 3.4% of all private farmland and nearly 2% of all land in the U.S., according to the USDA.
Some lawmakers argue this is a security risk because land purchases occur near U.S. military installations. Now, lawmakers are moving to crack down on these cases using the farm bill.
Congress calls for reviews on China threat
O farm account, renewed approximately once every five years, is a significant lifeline for rural states, agricultural livelihoods, and the way food is grown. Each bill has a unique title, and the current one is called Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024.
Lawmakers are working to further restrict land purchases by foreign adversaries in the 2024 bill. This includes language that would require Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack to review the threat that China poses to the US agricultural industry every year.
A key section of the bill, introduced by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, would require Vilsack to present “an assessment of the United States’ dependence on critical agricultural products or inputs that could be exploited in the event the People’s Republic of China transforms any such critical dependence on weapons.”
Growing concerns about China buying US land
The effort comes as Chinese entities continue to buy US farmland. Last year, one of those projects was halted after the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota, blocked a Chinese company from purchasing land 20 kilometers from a military base.
According to the USDA, Chinese companies own 347,000 acres of farmland – which represents less than 1% of all foreign-owned farmland. Chinese-owned land is spread across 27 states, including Texas and North Carolina.
The Chinese-owned entity with the largest presence is the parent company of pork producer Smithfield Foods, which owns nearly 100,000 acres.
Last year, the Senate approved an amendment to the annual defense bill to prohibit adversaries like China from buying new farmland, but it did not make it into the final version approved by Congress.
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