Foreign farmland ownership updates

Mar 11, 2024

Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill into law in South Dakota

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A newly signed bill in South Dakota restricts people with ties to governments or entities from six countries from owning any of the state’s 42.3 million acres of farmland.

On March 4, Gov. Kristi Noem signed HB 1231 into law.

This legislation blocks farmland ownership for the governments of China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela, or people associated with those governments.

“South Dakota respects the Freedom to farm and ranch. That Freedom should not extend to our enemies,” Governor Noem said in a statement. “Over the past year, we have had continuous discussions to create this legislation to protect South Dakota from foreign adversaries buying up our ag land.”

Legislators in other states are at various stages of working on similar or related laws.

In Oklahoma, for example, lawmakers introduced House Bill 3125 in February.

This bill sets out to eliminate foreign ownership of state farmland.

“We don’t want foreign ownership, especially in the areas of drugs like marijuana,” Rep. Danny Williams told KFOR. “We’re not targeting the agricultural world. We’re kind of targeting the marijuana world and the proliferation of illegal and not only ownership, but operation.”

In Iowa, the House of Representatives passed Senate File 2204 at the end of February.

This bill expands the current law to ensure more detailed reports of foreign farmland ownership in the state.

The law also increases penalties for foreign entities who don’t file necessary paperwork on time.

The new penalty is a fine of up to 25 percent of the value of the farmland.

A recent government report indicates the U.S. needs to improve its record keeping with respect to foreign ag land ownership.

Foreign investments in American farmland increased to about 40 million acres in 2021, and the USDA needs to record this information more thoroughly, the Government Accountability Office said.

“The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not share timely data on foreign investments in agricultural land collected under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978, as amended,” the January report says. But without improving its internal processes, USDA cannot report reliable information to Congress or the public about where and how much U.S. agricultural land is held by foreign persons.”

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.