Sounding the Alarm

Sounding The Alarm. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

From Chicken Little to the midnight ride of Paul Revere there has always been someone sounding an alarm. The question then becomes, who is listening. Over the years many books, movies and TV shows have speculated about world domination by various real and make believe countries. Can it happen? In recent years, the Chinese government and Chinese businesses have been making huge investments in agricultural land and facilities around the world. International business consultant John Doggett of Austin, Texas says it’s a trend that bears watching.

DOGGETT: Just earlier this year, 16 of the largest dairy farms in New Zealand were purchased by a state-owned company from China so they can increase control of their milk imports—because New Zealand is the largest supplier of milk to China

Doggett says there are now more than one million Chinese farmers on the ground and producing food in Africa.  Doggett was speaking to the Nebraska Governor’s Ag Conference and he predicts that, in the not-too-distant future, wealthy Chinese investors will be bidding on farmland in the U.S.

DOGGETT: What we will see in Nebraska we’re starting to see in other parts of the world are wealthy Chinese investors coming and making offers to Nebraskan farmers for dollars per acre that they’ve never seen before. Now you can’t tell people not to sell if they want to sell. But one of the challenges is that if we end up having more and more of our land owned by foreigners, it can present a big problem. We’ve seen it in Brazil, we’ve seen it in Argentina, we’ve seen it in New Zealand, we’re seeing that in Canada—and hopefully we won’t see that in the U.S.

Those people that foresee this as a possible threat want to know if there are ways for states to put up barriers to these kinds of purchases.

DOGGETT: We’re seeing countries all over the world trying to put up barriers but we’re not a communist or socialist society so the government can’t tell people they can’t sell private farmland. And so what I expect to have happen is that if people make a good enough offer it’s going to happen. I grew up in California and I happen to be in Los Angeles when Korean business people started buying land in Los Angeles which eventually became what we call Korea Town. It’s the second largest Korean city after Seoul.

Another issue Doggett brings up is what is being done with the farmland being purchased.

DOGGETT: We’re seeing an area in Australia which is viewed as having the best farmland in Australia where farmer after farmer has sold his or her land to Chinese purchasers who want to use that land for the coal that is under that land. People in Australia are saying we’ve got a minor problem, it’s the best farmland in Australia.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.