IARN — 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 (R-WA) introduced the amendment to the House Appropriations Committee and said that, in recent years, China has been looking for ways to increase their global footprint.
“And this is one way they are working to accomplish that, to accomplish their goals,” Rep. Newhouse said. “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.”
Newhouse provided an estimate on how much U.S. land Chinese interests already own.
“At this point, the latest figures I have that these Chinese interests have purchased upwards of 192,000 acres in the United States,” Rep. Newhouse said.
Newhouse said that the amendment was well received by the committee.
“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,” Rep. Newhouse said. “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.”
Iowa is among the six states that already have laws banning foreign ownership of farmland. The other states include Hawaii, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Oklahoma.
Story courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
