Much ink and many pixels have been wasted, in my opinion, on rants about people other than US farmers owning farmland. Surprisingly, critics are just as hard on wealthy Americans as foreigners.
The target of today is Bill Gates, but that opposition is almost identical to the boogeyman of my prime – Ted Turner. Then of course, there is the outrage over anyone from China owning farmland, despite their tiny splinter of ownership, most of which came with Smithfield Foods.
No Foreign Ownership Laws
This outrage is tiresome, especially after tedious repetition. It seems little more than an attempt to solidify an image of American farmers as perennial victims.
If American agriculture sincerely opposed non-farmer ownership of farmland, I think we would see laws to make it illegal. Like in India. Not just corporate ownership prohibitions, which have not fared that well in the few states that have tried them, but straightforward bans on non-farmer ownership. It would be simple, just place bouncer at the door of every land auction or real estate closing and make sure only real US farmers can buy.
There Are No Qualifications to Be a Farmer in the U.S.
Which raises a slight problem. There are no qualifications to be a farmer in the US. No licenses or permits. No apprenticeship common in many countries. No formal ag training or experience. No solemn oaths or professional membership. In short, a farmer is somebody who calls herself a farmer.
There is also the issue of the rights of the farmland seller. Any law that restricts to whom they can sell strikes me as an economic taking, which is frowned upon by our Constitution. With no legal standards to identify Real U.S. Farmers, anybody qualifies.
Read more: Owning Farmland Is Now Cool, Even If You Don’t Farm
The miniscule amounts of farmland owned by multibillionaires or non-Americans out of our roughly 900 million farmland acres clearly are not impacting our national ag economy or culture, especially since the overwhelming portion of that sliver is covered with forest or grazing range – not corn or beans. Besides, in case you haven’t heard, as far as the Chinese are concerned, ag media has pivoted effortlessly from “They’re buying up our farms!” to “They’re losing population to buy our corn!” Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of our latest Existential Threat.
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