Chinese land ownership in US down 2 per cent in 2022 amid heightened national security concerns

“Even though Chinese filings are less than 1 per cent of foreign-held agricultural land acres in the US, there is considerable interest in this topic,” the report stated.

The largest China-owned landowners were identified as pork producer Murphy Brown LLC, also known as Smithfield Foods, and wind-energy developer Brazos Highland Properties.

Between them, the two companies owned about 200,000 acres of American land.

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Most of the foreign-held land in the US was owned by nationals hailing from North American and European countries, according to the report.

Canadian investors owned the most American land of any foreign group, at 14.2 million acres or 32 per cent of foreign-held acres.

In addition to publishing the new data, the USDA on Friday issued a request for public input on how foreign filers report purchases of American land. The idea is to gain a fuller and more accurate picture of foreign land holdings.

The actual amount of land owned by China could be higher than the nearly 350,000 acres reported, the report stated, because in cases where multiple parties invested in land holdings only the primary investor’s information was recorded.

If the primary investor’s country of origin could not be determined, the filing was recorded as held by “no predominant country”, it added.

For this reason, “the acreage associated with China – or any other country discussed in this report – should be interpreted as a minimum”.

At a time of high bilateral tensions with Beijing, Washington lawmakers have voiced concerns over Chinese nationals and companies buying up American land.

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And some have criticised the USDA for what they view as its insufficient capacity to track the holdings.

“We have heard some real concerns that foreign ownership may be undercounted and that the American government lacks the proper oversight tools to see the whole picture,” said Democratic senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, at a congressional hearing in September.

“As foreign entities continue their acquisitions of US food and agriculture assets, American farmers and families deserve to know that these transactions receive proper scrutiny.”

Legislation introduced in January by Republican senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota would empower the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US to restrict a purchase from “countries of concern”, including China, unless the president chose to allow it.

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Scrutiny in Washington over Chinese land holdings in the US ramped up after Chinese agribusiness giant Fufeng announced in November 2021 its intention to invest in a corn mill project near Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Despite potential economic benefits, some opposed Fufeng’s affiliation with China and the proposed facility’s proximity to a US Air Force base. The city council of Grand Forks eventually voted to scrap the development.