Canada purchased 32% of the 43.4 million acres bought to overseas traders
18 December 2023
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The choice of US farm acres owned via overseas entities grew greater than 8% in 2022, despite the fact that the 43.4 million acres of foreign-owned wooded area and farm land is solely 3.4% of the rustic’s agricultural land, Reuters reported, mentioning a central authority document.
The problem of who owns American farmland, and whether or not overseas possession of farmland items a countrywide safety possibility, has been hotly mentioned in Washington, and a few participants of Congress have proposed limits on overseas farmland possession.
Overseas entities purchased 3.4 million acres of U.S. farmland in 2022, with the largest will increase in Colorado, Alabama and Michigan, mentioned the newest document on overseas agricultural landholdings via the U.S. Division of Agriculture.
Canada stays the biggest overseas investor, accounting for 32% of the acres, a lot of which might be wooded area in Maine.
China’s holdings, a number one fear of lawmakers who need to prohibit overseas possession of farms, account for lower than 1% of foreign-owned acres at 350,000, a slight lower from 2021.
The tempo of overseas farmland acquisitions has higher since 2017, averaging just about 3 million acres once a year, USDA mentioned.
USDA additionally mentioned on Friday that it plans to replace the way it collects such information to raised perceive the have an effect on of overseas land holdings on rural communities and the precise location of foreign-owned acres.
“This procedure … will result in extra insightful reporting to Congress and the general public,” mentioned Beneath Secretary for Farm Manufacturing and Conservation Robert Bonnie in a remark.
USDA is accumulating public touch upon its proposed updates via Feb. 16.