News

Foreign ag land policy a hot topic

A policy consultant expects foreign ag land ownership to remain a hot topic for federal and state lawmakers this year. Jay Truitt tells Brownfield the issue will likely come up during farm bill negotiations in Washington D.C.

“I’ve tried to make people truly consider the consequences of what that actually means. I understand the concerns and I share those, but do we want somone in the federal government telling us who we should sell our private property to?”

He says foreign ag land ownership may be a better issue to tackle at the state level. Several foreign ag land ownership bills have already been pre-filed for the Missouri Legislature and Truitt says it’s not the first time the state has dealt with the issue.

“Missouri may be one of the first places where the conversation started. The initial conversation goes back 15 to 20 years when Japanese interests were looking at being a part owner in a packing plant. It was a big deal then and Missouri figured out how to solve that problem and they did it within a year.”

In an interview with Brownfield, Governor Parson says a lot has changed in the time since the issue was last discussed.