Banning foreign ownership of farmland has been a hot button topic in Missouri, and is expected to be one again in the legislature’s upcoming session.
Currently, no more than one-percent of Missouri’s agricultural land can be owned by a foreign entity.
Chillicothe Senator Rusty Black’s legislation would ban foreign businesses and governments from acquiring ag land in the state.
“It goes back to the language that was in state statute before it was changed in 2013 that no foreign entity, person, or business can own farmland within our state to farm," Black tells Missourinet
The idea has been muddied up with different viewpoints of foreign ownership over the years, including attempts to prevent ANY ownership of land across Missouri rather than just agricultural land.
Black says that he understands this takes the right to sell to whomever they want away from farmers, BUT.
“If you’re a farmland owner then that does cut out somebody that you can sell to, right? So, I do understand that. And that causes, even I have neighbors around me that we discuss it. I’m thinking, their right of way from choosing who they can sell to, but I think, overall, for our state, that this is the direction we need to go," Black says
-MissouriNet