This past weekend, Iowa 4th District Congressman Randy Feenstra joined Rep. GT Thompson (R-PA) and several other Republican colleagues in demanding a full report from the Government Accountability Office on foreign ownership of U.S. farmland. According to recent data, foreign entities own 37.6 million acres of American farmland- more than the total amount of farmland in the entire state of Iowa. Feenstra said the greatest concern comes from the fact that some of this land is adjacent to U.S. military bases.
Every year, it becomes more and more difficult for farmers to keep their land withing their families. This issue is not made any easier when foreign investors come in and out-bid them. Feenstra said we should be focusing on helping farmers pass their operations on to their inheritors.
Feenstra added that he?s had a lot of communication on the state and federal levels about this issue, with the focus being on helping farmers first.
For more information, visit feenstra.house.gov.
