A South Dakota congressman wants to make it harder for some foreign interests to buy U.S. agriculture companies.
Republican Dusty Johnson is introducing the Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security Act. He’s working with a Republican colleague from New York, Elise Stefanik.
Johnson said the bill would “blacklist” countries including China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. It would also involve the U.S. Department of Agriculture in reviewing acquisitions by foreign companies affecting the American ag sector.
Johnson said the bill is motivated by recent reports of China acquiring U.S. farmland, and specifically a Chinese company purchasing farmland near an Air Force base in North Dakota.
One of South Dakota’s largest agricultural operations, the Smithfield pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, is already owned by the W-H Group in China. It’s a multinational meat and food processing company.
