Pa. Lawmakers Concerned About Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land

When a Chinese food manufacturer bought 300 acres of farmland in Grand Forks, North Dakota in 2022 it set off a wave of concern among lawmakers, farmers, and other stakeholders, who called the operation, approximately 20 minutes from Grand Forks Air Force Base, a national security risk.

Since then, concern has continued to grow about the impact of foreign-owned farms and farmland across the United States, including in Pennsylvania.

At a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing last month, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) called foreign ownership of U.S. farmland a “national security issue” as well as a “food security issue.”

“I’m concerned with foreign countries’ and foreign corporations’ ownership in our agriculture supply chain,” Fetterman said.

The freshman Senator isn’t the only one concerned.

Pennsylvania U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-15th District) said that foreign ownership and investment in U.S. agricultural land has “nearly doubled in the past decade.”

The troubling trend prompted Thompson and Rep. James Comer (R-K.Y.) to send a letter to the Government Accountability Office in October 2022 requesting a full “review of foreign investment in U.S. farmland and its potential impact on national security, trade, and food security as well as U.S. government efforts to monitor these acquisitions.”

According to a 2020 U.S. Department of Agriculture report, foreign persons held nearly 37.6 million acres of U.S. agricultural land, totaling 2.9% of all privately held agricultural land and 1.7% of all land in the United States.

“This growing trend has elevated concerns regarding national security in a time of uncertainty that is already compounded by challenges to our supply chain infrastructure, high input costs for farmers, and geopolitical pressures,” Thompson, who chairs the House Committee on Agriculture, said. “It is critical for Congress to have a thorough understanding of foreign investment in our nation’s agricultural land.”

Source: penncapital-star.com

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