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1 1 (November 18, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/goveevn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Servjce Informing the legislative debate ~ince 1914 November 18, 2021 Foreign Farmland Ownership in the United States Legislation introduced in the 117th Congress seeks to restrict foreign investment and ownership of U.S. agricultural land. In 2019, foreign persons and entities held an interest in 2.7% of U.S. privately owned agricultural land-covering crop, grazing, and forest land-according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Other related legislation seeks to limit the eligibility of foreign persons and entities for USDA farm program benefits. Existing Federal Requirements Current law imposes no restrictions on the amount of private U.S. agricultural land that can be foreign owned. Federal law, however, requires foreign persons and entities to disclose to USDA information related to foreign investment and ownership of U.S. agricultural land. The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (AFIDA; P.L. 95-460, 7 U.S.C. §§3501-3508) and its federal regulations (7 C.F.R. Part 781), implemented by USDA, established a nationwide system for the collection of information pertaining to foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land (as defined at 7 C.F.R. §781.2). AFIDA defined a foreign person as any individual, corporation, company, association, partnership, society, joint stock company, trust, estate, or any other legal entity (including any foreign government) under the laws of a foreign government or with a principal place of business outside the United States. The regulations require foreign persons who buy, sell, or gain interest in U.S. agricultural land to disclose their holdings and transactions to USDA directly or to the Farm Service Agency county office where the land is located. Failure to disclose this information may result in penalties and fines. After the original disclosure (Form FSA-153), each subsequent change of ownership or use must be reported. USDA compiles these data, with the most recent AFIDA report covering 2019. Foreign persons or entities may be eligible for certain USDA farm program benefits if they meet the same requirements as domestic persons or entities. Specifically, they must be either farming the land or landlords renting land under a crop-share agreement, have the requisite U.S. taxpayer ID, and meet the program's eligibility and other requirements. All persons or legal entities also must be actively engaged in farming (7 U.S.C. §1308-1). Other criteria may apply, such as limits on the entity's adjusted gross income. For background, see CRS Report R46248, U.S. Farm Programs: Eligibility and Payment Limits. Current law imposes no restrictions on foreign persons or entities with respect to eligibility for crop and livestock insurance premium subsidies. Other programs, such as the Dairy Margin Coverage program, make no distinction about a producer's or owner's citizenship. Similarly, no citizenship requirement exists for a sugar processor, or a cane or beet producer, operating under the U.S. sugar program. However, foreign persons or entities are not eligible for permanent disaster assistance programs, such as the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; and Tree Assistance Program. The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program also explicitly prohibits payments to foreign entities other than resident aliens. Existing State Requirements Some states and localities have instituted restrictions but do not significantly inhibit foreign farmland ownership. An overview of state laws by researchers at the University of Arkansas's National Agricultural Law Center shows that no U.S. state has instituted an absolute prohibition on foreign ownership. However, several states have imposed certain prohibitions or restrictions on foreign ownership, while most states expressly allow foreign ownership (Figure 1). Several states require reporting or registration (Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin). There is no single uniform approach under state law to addressing foreign ownership. Some general categories include restrictions on the amount of land that can be owned or the duration of ownership; distinctions involving private versus public land or how agricultural land is defined; distinctions involving resident and nonresident aliens; inheritance considerations involving land ownership; restrictions on ownership of foreign corporations (e.g., corporate farming laws or requirements corporations are subject to in order to obtain license or register); and differences related to enforcement and penalties. Figure 1. Overview of Selected State Laws Related to Foreign Ownership of U.S. Private Agricultural Land Source: ~ ~kCRS using data from the National Agricultural Law Center, https://nationalaglawcenter.org/state-compilations/aglandownership/. rittps:/crsreports .cong ressgov

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