Parson bans some Missouri farmland purchases by ‘foreign adversaries’

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Gov. Mike Parson signed an executive order Tuesday barring China and other "foreign adversaries" from owning farmland close to sensitive military facilities.

The order bars those countries from buying land within 10 miles of those facilities.

"With heightened concerns regarding ownership of Missouri farm land by foreign adversaries, especially China, we are signing this order to safeguard our military and intelligence assets, prevent security threats to our state, and give Missourians greater peace of mind," Parson said in prepared remarks. "When it comes to China and other foreign adversaries, we must take commonsense precautions that protect Missourians and our security resources."

The governor's office said in a news release that China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela are current foreign adversaries.

Parson was joined by Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, Public Safety Director Sandy Karsten and Missouri National Guard Adjutant General Levon Cumpton. 

The Missouri Department of Agriculture provided ABC 17 with the most recent list of foreign-owned agricultural land. It shows there are more than 118,000 acres of foreign-owned land, or 0.43% percent of the 27.5 million total acres of agriculture in Missouri.

The only one of the foreign adversaries identified by the governor's office that does own farmland in Missouri is China, with more than 42,000 acres. By acreage, China has more Missouri farmland than any other foreign country, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Current Missouri law caps the amount of foreign-owned land at 1% of Missouri's total farmland.

Lawmakers tried and failed to pass bills further restricting foreign-owned land during the 2023 legislative session. A bill that nearly made it to the finish line would have restricted the state to 0.5% foreign-owned land.

The 2024 Missouri legislative session starts Wednesday, and there are already at least six bills pre-filed on the topic of foreign-owned land from both Republicans and Democrats.

Across the country, 13 other states restrict foreign-owned agriculture.

This executive order comes at an interesting time, as Missouri enters an election year and foreign land ownership was already predicted to be a hot topic among governor hopefuls.

Kehoe, who is running for governor, was at the announcement Tuesday, but did not comment on the order.

Governor-hopeful Sen. Bill Eigel said, “If these guys really cared about protecting our farmland from foreign ownership, they would have done it years ago and supported my call for a special session last June."

Another Republican running for governor, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, accused Kehoe of supporting the sale of Missouri land to Chinese companies 10 years ago.

"While I’m happy to see my plan used as a framework, it is too little, too late," Ashcroft said.