
Foreign Ownership of U.S. Ag Land Continues To Increase
The latest report on foreign ownership of U.S. ag land shows that 45.85 million acres of U.S. farmland were held by foreign investors in 2023. That represents 3.61% of total privately held agricultural land in the U.S. This marks a 1.58-million-acre (3.6%) increase from 2022 and a five-million-acre (12.2%) rise since the American Farm Bureau’s last analysis in 2021.
Canadian investors own the largest portion of foreign-held U.S. ag land with 33.5 percent, or 15.35 million acres of the total and 1.21% of all U.S. ag land. Following Canada, investors from the Netherlands, Italy, the U.K., and Germany round out the top five in that category.
By state, Texas has the largest quantity of foreign-held U.S. agricultural land at 5.7 million acres making up 3.6% of the state’s 158 million acres of privately held Ag land. Maine has the second-largest quantity of foreign-held U.S. agricultural land at 3.5 million acres but leads for highest proportion of foreign-held ag acreage with over 21% of the state’s 16.5 million acres of ag land being held by foreign investors. In both Texas and Maine, foreign ownership is primarily driven by forest products and timber companies. Hawai’i also has a significant share of foreign-owned agricultural land, with 17% (283,000 of its 1.6 million agricultural acres) largely tied to renewable energy investments.
In the Northwest, all three states reported an increase in the number of Foreign owned acres, with 1,743 Washington acres changing hands, 10,189 acres being sold in Idaho, and 167,108 acres in Oregon.
The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (AFIDA) requires foreign entities to report purchases, sales and interests in U.S. agricultural land to USDA via Form-153 submitted to the FSA. It defines foreign entities broadly, including individuals, companies and even foreign governments, but excludes U.S. citizens and green card holders. Non-compliance can result in fines up to 25% of the land's market value, though USDA has largely depended on voluntary self-reporting for its data.
In 2024, under heightened congressional scrutiny, USDA imposed a record $1.2 million in penalties, including $13,374 for non-filings and the remainder for late filings. While these penalties remain modest relative to USDA’s full enforcement authority, they mark progress in strengthening oversight and compliance under AFIDA.
The AFBF said while AFIDA data does not specify the exact purpose of each foreign land acquisition, certain terms in the names of reporting entities — such as “wind,” “solar,” “energy” and “renewable” — can serve as proxies for identifying renewable energy-focused companies. This analysis estimates the extent of foreign interest in U.S. agricultural land for renewable energy development over time by aggregating the acreage associated with these terms. Canadian investors accounted for the largest share at 5.5 million acres, followed by Italian investors with 2.57 million acres and Portuguese investors with 1.2 million acres. Notably, of the top 10 nations in this category, only one, Australia, is located outside Europe, reflecting the region's commitment to renewable energy development and compliance with government mandates for carbon emissions reductions, which likely drive these investments.
In 2023, over 70% of the acreage linked to renewable energy companies was cropland, with 22% classified as pastureland, 6% as other agricultural land, and the remaining 2% as forestland. Breaking it down by keyword associations in entity names, 11.21 million acres (84%) were linked to entities containing the term "wind"; 4.8 million acres (36%) to entities with "energy"; 1.47 million acres (11%) to those with "solar"; and 404,000 acres (3%) to entities with "renewable." It is important to note that some entity names include multiple terms, leading to an overlap in these values.
Concerns about foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land often focus on nations considered adversarial to the U.S. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) within the Department of Commerce plays a critical role in regulating sensitive technologies, telecommunications and supply chain security as part of national security efforts. In its most recent determination of foreign adversaries, the BIS identified the following governments or foreign non-governmental entities: The People’s Republic of China, Republic of Cuba, Islamic Republic of Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Russian Federation and Venezuelan politician Nicolás Maduro. Together, these investors own 370,727 acres, representing three hundredths of 1% (0.03%) of all privately held agricultural land in the U.S. From 2022 to 2023, acreage linked to Russian investors declined by 52 acres (-83%), Iranian investors by 1,325 acres (-30%), and Chinese investors by 34,272 acres (-11%), while acreage linked to Venezuelan and Cuban investors remained unchanged.
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