USDA report shares that Canada, not China, is the foreign country that tops the list of most foreign-owned farmlands in the United States.
A foreign country’s ownership of a U.S. farmland is expected to gain more attention this year. (Photo: Food Tank)
The Foreign Country That Owns The Most Farmlands
A new USDA report reveals the foreign country which is Canada, not China, owns the most farmland in the United States, accounting for 32% or 14.2 million acres. The top five foreign country owners of U.S. farmland are Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
Together, the foreign country mentioned above owns 29% or 13 million acres of foreign-held land in the U.S. By comparison, China owns less than 1% or 349,442 acres. Overall, 43.4 million acres of forest and farmland in the U.S., or 3.4% of all agricultural land, is owned by a foreign country.
Of these acres owned by a foreign country, 30 million are reported as foreign-owned, with the rest being primarily under a long-term lease. The majority of Chinese-owned land in the U.S. is associated with Brazos Highland and Smithfield Foods.
According to a published article by The Scoop, a foreign country’s ownership of U.S. farmland has become a contentious issue in politics and is expected to gain more attention this year.
Agricultural Land Purchases By China
In a published article by Forbes, Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural land have caused concern in Congress, but 18 other countries own more American agricultural acres than China.
China owns around 384,000 acres of U.S. agricultural land, with 195,000 acres owned by 85 Chinese investors and 189,000 acres owned by 62 U.S. corporations with Chinese shareholders.
