China Ban on U.S. Farmland Purchases Pt 2
I’m Bob Larson. An amendment to the House Appropriations for Agriculture bill would prohibit China from purchasing U.S. agricultural land and make any land it currently owns ineligible for farm program payouts.
U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse offered the amendment and says, in recent years, China has been looking for ways to increase their global footprint …
NEWHOUSE … “And this is one way they are working to accomplish that, to accomplish their goals. We have seen an alarming rate and increase of purchases of agricultural assets in this country. And, this is an effort to put a stop to that so that we don’t become dependent on China for our domestic agriculture and food supply.”
So, how much U.S. ag land does China currently own? …
NEWHOUSE … “At this point, the latest figures I have that these Chinese interests have purchased upwards of 192,000 acres in the United States.”
Newhouse says the amendment was well received …
NEWHOUSE … “It was passed unanimously by the committee as I am anticipating that we’ll be able to see it into the final package that we pass off the House floor. That’s my goal and I’m going to continue working very hard to make sure that that happens when we come to final consideration on the floor of the House of Representatives.”
Six states already have laws banning foreign ownership of farmland … Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Oklahoma.
