Foreign Ownership and Holdings of U.S. Agricultural Land

Foreign Ownership and Holdings of U.S. Agricultural Land

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Updated January 24, 2023
Foreign Ownership and Holdings of U.S. Agricultural Land
The 117th Congress introduced a range of proposals to
the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program
restrict foreign investment and ownership in the U.S. food
explicitly prohibits payments to foreign entities other than
and agriculture sector and enacted certain new reporting
resident aliens. See CRS Report R46248, U.S. Farm
requirements for the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Programs: Eligibility and Payment Limits and USDA’s fact
(USDA) related to disclosure of foreign ownership of U.S.
sheet, Payment Eligibility and Payment Limitations.
agricultural lands. The 118th Congress might consider these
or related proposals during the next farm bill debate.
Existing State Requirements
Some states and localities have instituted restrictions on
Existing Federal Requirements
foreign ownership of farmland. An overview of state laws
Current federal law imposes no restrictions on the amount
by researchers at the University of Arkansas’s National
of private U.S. agricultural land that can be foreign-owned.
Agricultural Law Center shows that no U.S. state has
Federal law, however, requires foreign persons and entities
instituted an absolute prohibition on foreign ownership.
to disclose to USDA information related to foreign
However, some states limit or have proposed to prohibit
investment and ownership of U.S. agricultural land.
certain foreign persons and entities from acquiring or
owning an interest in agricultural land within their state,
The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of
and several states have separate disclosure requirements
1978 (AFIDA; P.L. 95-460, 7 U.S.C. §§3501-3508), as
within their state (Figure 1). USDA has identified 339
implemented by USDA, established a nationwide system
counties in Iowa, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin as
for collecting information pertaining to foreign ownership
having the strictest prohibitions on foreign ownership of
of U.S. agricultural land, defined as land used for forestry
agricultural land and other nonagricultural real estate.
production, farming, ranching, or timber production (7
U.S.C. 3508; 7 C.F.R. §781.2). AFIDA defines a foreign
There is no single uniform approach under state laws to
person to include “any individual, corporation, company,
addressing foreign ownership. Some general categories
association, partnership, society, joint stock company, trust,
include restrictions on the amount of land that can be
estate, or any other legal entity” (including “any foreign
owned or the duration of ownership; distinctions involving
government”) under the laws of a foreign government or
private versus public land or how agricultural land is
with a principal place of business outside the United States.
defined; distinctions involving resident/nonresident aliens;
The regulations require foreign persons who buy, sell, or
inheritance considerations involving land ownership;
gain interest in U.S. agricultural land to disclose their
restrictions on ownership by foreign corporations (e.g.,
holdings and transactions to USDA directly or to the Farm
corporate farming laws or requirements corporations are
Service Agency county office where the land is located.
subject to in order to obtain license or register); and
Failure to disclose this information may result in penalties
differences related to enforcement and penalties.
and fines. After the original disclosure (Form FSA-153),
each subsequent change of ownership or use must be
Figure 1. Overview of Selected State Laws Related to
reported. USDA compiles these data, with the most recent
Foreign Ownership of U.S. Agricultural Land
AFIDA report covering 2021.
Foreign persons or entities may be eligible for certain
USDA farm program benefits if they meet the same
requirements as domestic persons or entities. Specifically,
they must be considered actively engaged in farming (7
U.S.C. §1308-1), meaning they are either farming the land
or landlords renting land under a crop-share agreement.
They also must have the requisite U.S. taxpayer ID and
meet the program’s eligibility requirements. Other criteria
may apply, such as limits on the entity’s adjusted gross
income. Current law imposes no restrictions on foreign
persons or entities with respect to eligibility for crop and

livestock insurance premium subsidies. Some programs
Source: CRS using data from National Agricultural Law Center, at
make no distinction about a producer’s or owner’s
https://nationalaglawcenter.org/state-compilations/aglandownership/,
citizenship (e.g., the Dairy Margin Coverage program), and
as depicted at https://nalcpro.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/
other programs have no explicit citizenship requirement
uploads//assets/Webinars/Foreign-Land-Ownership.pdf.
(e.g., the U.S. sugar program). Foreign persons or entities
are not eligible for permanent disaster assistance programs;
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Foreign Ownership and Holdings of U.S. Agricultural Land
USDA Data on Foreign Ownership
example, 7.5% of the AFIDA-reported foreign-held acres
USDA reports that foreign persons and entities held an
were for “Country Not Listed,” combining reporting codes
interest in 40.8 million acres of U.S. agricultural land in
998 (no foreign investor listed) and 999 (no predominant
2021, accounting for 3.1% of total privately owned land
country code) (Table 1). Limited information is available
(Table 1). These data cover agricultural land and
on AFIDA-reported data covering land held by certain
nonagricultural land. In 2021, forestland accounted for 47%
countries known to provide certain tax-neutral jurisdictions
of all foreign-owned land, cropland accounted for 29%, and
for private equity firms, such as the Cayman Islands and the
pasture and other agricultural land for 22%. Nonagricultural
British Virgin Islands. Some House Members, including the
land (such as homesteads and roads) accounted for 2%.
Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, have asked
USDA reports that foreign land holdings have increased by
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a
an average of 2.2 million acres per year since 2015. Data
review of AFIDA, including how USDA collects data under
cover both foreign-owned (29.1 million acres) and U.S.
AFIDA, how its collection methods have changed over
subsidiary-owned land (11.7 million acres) (Table 1).
time, how USDA ensures accurate data disclosure, and how
reporting requirements under AFIDA might be improved.
Five countries accounted for approximately 62% of all
foreign-owned U.S. agricultural land in 2021. As a share of
There also is increased attention on the possible impact of
all foreign-owned acres, these were Canada (31%, mostly
foreign investment in the U.S. food and agriculture sector,
forestland), the Netherlands (12%), Italy (7%), the United
particularly focused on Chinese investment following high-
Kingdom (6%), and Germany (6%). Other countries with
profile acquisitions in the past decade. In 2013, the Chinese
holdings of more than 500,000 acres were Portugal, France,
firm WH Group (formerly Shuanghui International)
Denmark, Luxembourg, Mexico, Switzerland, the Cayman
acquired U.S. company Smithfield Foods, the world’s
Islands, Japan, and Belgium.
largest pork producer. In 2022, Chinese food manufacturer
Fufeng Group bought 300 acres of land near the Grand
Table 1. Foreign Holdings of Agricultural Land, 2021
Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota with plans to build a
Country
Total Foreign U.S. Entities % of U.S.
wet corn milling and biofermentation plant. Not including
Entities
w/ Foreign Private
the Fufeng Group purchase in 2022, USDA reports that
Shares
Land
China accounted for 383,935 acres, or 0.9% of total
(mil ion acres)
(percent)
foreign-owned U.S. agricultural land as of year-end 2021.
Canada
12.8
9.7
3.2
1.0%
Figure 2. Foreign Holdings of Agricultural Land, 2021
Netherlands
4.9
4.4
0.5
0.4%
Italy
2.7
2.6
0.1
0.2%
United Kingdom
2.5
1.5
1.0
0.2%
Germany
2.3
1.4
0.9
0.2%
Subtotal
25.2
19.6
5.7
2.0%
Other Countries
12.4
7.1
5.3
1.0%
Not Listed
3.2
2.4
0.8
0.3%
Total
40.8
29.1
11.7
3.1%
Source: CRS from USDA, Foreign Holdings of U.S. Agricultural Land
through December 31, 2021 (Report 6). Data cover sole foreign and
joint U.S. ownership of privately held agricultural and nonagricultural
land (1,290.5 mil ion acres in 2021). May not add due to rounding.

Notes: “Foreign Entities” refer to holdings by individual foreign
Source: CRS from USDA data, available at USDA, Foreign Holdings of
investors or entities not created in the United States; “U.S. Entities
U.S. Agricultural Land Through December 31, 2021 (Report 1).
w/ Foreign Shares” refer to interests of U.S. corporations with
foreign shareholders. “Not Listed” covers AFIDA codes 998 (no
Proposed Legislative Options
foreign investor listed) and 999 (no predominant country code).
The 117th Congress enacted certain changes and introduced
a range of proposals to address concerns involving foreign
All U.S. states report foreign investment/ownership in U.S.
purchases of U.S. agricultural lands and investment in the
land (Figure 2). As of year-end 2021, according to USDA,
U.S. food and agricultural sector. Some of these proposals
the states with the most foreign-owned agricultural acreage
would have tightened USDA’s disclosure requirements, and
were Texas (5.3 million acres), Maine (3.6 million acres),
others would have restricted USDA program eligibility to
Colorado (1.9 million acres), Alabama (1.8 million acres),
foreign entities. The 118th Congress might consider these
and Oklahoma (1.7 million acres). Other states with more
types of proposals involving USDA during the next farm
than 1 million foreign-owned acres were Arkansas,
bill debate. Other congressional proposals reflected various
California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan,
national security concerns and sought to amend federal
New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.
authorities other than those pertaining to USDA. Some of
these proposals would have expanded federal review of
Users of USDA’s AFIDA data have noted inaccuracies and
foreign investment transactions in the U.S. food and
underreporting under current disclosure requirements. The
agriculture sector, and others would have prohibited certain
Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting asserts that data
foreign adversaries from such investment transactions. See
collected under AFIDA are not complete, contain errors and
CRS In Focus IF12312, Foreign Ownership of U.S.
omissions, do not track sales of foreign-held U.S. farmland,
Agriculture: Selected Policy Options.
and may not accurately reflect changes over time. For
https://crsreports.congress.gov

Foreign Ownership and Holdings of U.S. Agricultural Land

Renée Johnson, Specialist in Agricultural Policy
IF11977

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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11977 · VERSION 3 · UPDATED