There’s a new trend sweeping the nation, and Texas is at the forefront.
According to a new report from the Austin American-Statesman, foreign companies and individuals have purchased 1.7 million acres of agricultural land in Texas over the past decade–more than any other state.
The Statesman analyzed data from the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting and found the foreign-owned land in Texas is worth about $3.3 billion.
If put altogether, the land would cover an area the size of Travis, Hays and Williamson counties in Central Texas.
Of the 1.7 million acres, about 600,000 acres are labeled as crop or pasture land.
The state has around 130 million acres of crop land altogether.
About 58 percent of foreign-owned lands in Texas, or more than one million acres, are made up of timber holdings.
According to the report, most of the foreign purchases were from people or entities in North America or Europe.
Canadian firms led the pack with purchases of more than 800,000 acres of timber in East Texas.
Other land is used for wind farms, solar power and real estate investments, per the Statesman.
In Hidalgo County, foreign farms own around 13,000 acres of agricultural land valued around $36 million.
In Floyd County, about 33,000 acres are foreign owned.
The purchases are part of a growing trend across the country and globe. The United States is the world’s second largest buyer of agricultural land in other countries.
Concerned with foreign investments in the American agricultural or food systems, some lawmakers in the U.S. are looking at legislation that could cap foreign spending on agricultural land, the Statesman reports.
The data on foreign purchases of American agricultural land is available through the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978. Through that act, foreign investors are required to notify the U.S. Department of Agriculture whenever they purchase or sell agricultural land.
The report itself, which includes a searchable database, can be found here.
We absolutely do not think foreign countries should be allowed to buy up land in the US.
This is a direct result of the massive amount of debt incurred under the Obama administration along with the monetization of that debt by the Federal Reserve. Foregin holders of a portion of this printed money are looking for some storehouse of value in which to place their holdings of US Dollars. They fear that the Fed and Obama’s reckless fiscal policies have set the stage for a massive and continual degradation in the purchasing power of their money and they are looking for some stable place to put their wealth. US farmland is the ideal place to do that as it will always be there, it requires little maintenance and will always be needed. There is no nefarious plot by foreigners to “take over” our farmland. Rather, they are wisely seeking out the best shelter to take refuge in to protect themselves from the coming financial storm. Despite his best efforts, and a few Republicans in Congress who are doing their best to thwart his agenda, President Trump will have a very, very difficult time setting this country back on a wise, rational and sane financial basis; Obama has taken us much too far down the road to financial ruin for anyone to quickly turn the ship around. GW Bush started it, but Obama took it to the max; now we are going to have to pay the price. Don’t blame the foreign holders of Dollars for seeking the best shelter from the coming storm. They are simply doing what you would do if the shoe was on your foot.
I am AGAINST sale of ANY Texas or US land to any non-American person or company.
Bring them on. I have 2000 acres of prime farm land that was not effected by the drought whatsoever. The locals want to give you a price that is less than a third of the value of the land. Who else do we sell to?