Duke; this problem with foreign purchases of crop acreage, livestock farms & indeed entire agriculturally based corporations has been going on for decades. The Smithfield purchase REALLY got the ball rolling for China. The Chinese are not dumb as they kept price increases to a minimum for pork to avoid alarming the American general public so they can look for the next "target" to purchase & then the next & the next etc. At current China owns about 1% of agricultural America;
Notice WHERE some of those Chinese acquired agricultural lands ARE LOCATED AT;
Under a proposed rule change, foreign citizens and companies would need U.S. government approval to buy property within 100 miles of eight military bases. The proposal follows a Chinese firm's attempt to build a plant near the Grand Forks Air Base in North Dakota, which raised national security...
apnews.com
Nikki Haley said China bought 400,000 acres of U.S. farmland "near our military installations." Chinese investors own a total of 383,935 acres, or about 1% of foreign-held agricultural land in the U.S. It's not the amount near U.S. military installations.
www.factcheck.org
There are 109 countries that own American agricultural acreage, read the link below to find out who the top ten countries are that own American farm land.
Politicians raised concern with China’s increased ownership of U.S. farmland.
www.forbes.com
Congress has been literally allowing the sale of American farm land to foreigners for $$$$$/personal gain. This appears to 'me' to be another attempt for a multilateral one world without borders scam. Maybe enough of my fellow Americans realized the danger with congress allowing the selling off of Americans food supply to finally pressure congress to get off their money grabbing bonanza & pass legislation to prevent the selling off of America to non-American citizens?
Sens. Ernst and Stabenow said they are responding to a possible threat to the U.S. food supply and to keep China from buying farmland near military installations.
www.nbcnews.com
I REALLY became aware, as did most farmers in our USA when the Smithfield purchase by China back then made news. Since then I have been following the national scene for farmers as much as I do our regional farming community. The links I included above are informative links that I believe you will be interested in knowing about. Till next time!