WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) — American lawmakers from both parties are pushing legislation that would limit who can own American farmland, with a latest effort from Democratic senator Cory Booker aimed at curbing corporate ownership.
Farm groups and lawmakers are concerned that land purchases by investors and foreign countries are driving up farmland prices and threatening national security.
Booker’s Farmland for Farmers Act, introduced on July 27, would ban most corporations, pension funds and investment funds from buying or leasing farmland.
“We must protect farmland from becoming an investment strategy for huge corporations,” Booker said in a statement.
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Institutional investors own US$15.9 billion offarmland, according to the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries’ Farmland Index.
Several United States senators have introduced bills in recent months to limit foreign ownership of farmland, citing concerns that adversaries might buy U.S. land to gain influence.
The Senate on July 25 passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would boost federal review of foreign farmland purchases and limit some by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
China holds less than one percent of U.S. foreign-owned farmland, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Canada holds 31 percent.
