Foreign land ownership to be discussed at national ag conference

National Agricultural Law Center Director Harrison Pittman and Staff Attorney Micah Brown will participate in a panel on foreign ownership of U.S. land at one of the nation’s agricultural events in January. The panel is a part of the Jan. 9 Land Investment Expo in Des Moines, Iowa.

“While the conversation regarding foreign ownership of U.S. land has grown over the last decade, it has grown immensely in 2023,” Pittman said. “It’s one of the most active issues at both the state and federal levels, if not the most. That trend looks to continue into 2024.”

Pittman and Brown will be joined by David Bergvall, director of policy and environment for Manulife Investment Management Timberland and Agriculture and Todd Friedman, co-chair of Stoel Rives Agribusiness, Food, Beverage and Timber Industry Group. Registration for the event is online, with in-person and livestream options available.

Brown is a leading national expert on foreign ownership of agricultural land. He has created resources on the topic, including the Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land: FAQs and Resource Library.

Pittman and Brown frequently present on the topic of foreign ownership at events throughout the country, from agricultural conferences and Farm Bureau meetings to national hearings. In September, Pittman testified on the topic during a hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry. Brown also testified in September before the Mississippi Department of Agriculture & Commerce Study Committee on Acquisition of Farmland.

In 2023, more than half of the states in the country took some form of action regarding foreign land ownership. In October, Arkansas became the first state in the country to enforce a foreign land ownership law. The first legal challenge to a state foreign ownership law was in Florida, in which a judge ultimately decided that Florida may continue enacting its foreign ownership law.

Syngenta, a company owned by the Chinese government, was ordered to sell 160 acres of agricultural land it owns in Craighead County on Oct. 17. The Arkansas Legislature passed Act 636, which bans entities from several countries including China, from owning agricultural land in the state.

China has multiple State Owned Enterprises, or SOE’s. One of those SOE’s, ChemChina, is the parent company of Syngenta. According to Syngenta’s website, it’s an ag-tech company that employs 30,000 with holdings in 90 different countries. Its focuses include seed development, crop protection, biofuels and other agriculture-related endeavors.

Last year, ChemChina was added to the U.S. Department of Defense’s list of Chinese-controlled “military companies” that either directly or indirectly work at the behest of the country’s military.