Alabama Governor Signs Bill to Prevent Purchase of Land by “Enemy Nations”

With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.

The Center Square is now reporting that Alabama’s governor signed a bill on Wednesday that is intended to protect land from purchase by hostile nations.

House Bill 379 is known as the Alabama Property Protection Act. It bans the sale of agricultural and forest land; and "critical infrastructure" to China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

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So what is the big picture of foreign ownership? The USDA reports that foreign persons and entities held an interest in 40.8 million acres of U.S agricultural land in 2021, accounting for 3.1% of total privately owned land. They add that foreign land holdings have increased by an average of 2.2 million acres per year since 2015.

And who are the players? As of 2021, five countries accounted for approximately 62% of all foreign-owned U.S. agricultural land: Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany.