[www.politico.com]

"Chinese firms have expanded their presence in American agriculture over the last decade by snapping up farmland and purchasing major agribusinesses, like pork processing giant Smithfield Foods. By the start of 2020, Chinese owners controlled about 192,000 agricultural acres in the U.S., worth $1.9 billion, including land used for farming, ranching and forestry, according to the Agriculture Department."

and the Europeans too.

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Add Middle Eastern countries to that list as well. I think I’ve read where it’s due to the lack of adequate water elsewhere in the world. However these corporate owners are behaving badly here. They’re basically sucking up all the ground waterFrom the locations that they own, then moving on afterwards. They target locations in the United States where land is cheap and the regulations protecting the environment are lax. Really a sorry state of affairs, should not be allowed to happen. Crazy to think that it’s cheaper for them to grow it here and then ship it back overseas.

This is and has been a serious threat to US defense.

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Ed (modelamac)

I think I will just put an OUT OF ORDER
sticker on my head and call it a day.

I forgot to mention, though the story covers it, these giant corporations, both foreign and domestic, are sucking up farm subsidies which, AFAIC, should be for family farmers.

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The acquisition of Smithfield took place in 2013.

Smithfield just announced they would cease slaughtering operations at
their Virginia hometown facility.
[www.pilotonline.com]

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these giant corporations, both foreign and domestic, are sucking up farm subsidies which, AFAIC, should be for family farmers.


In fairness, don't we owe Big Agri tax breaks and compensations, just like Big Pharma, etc, even if they're foreign entities?

Ok, seriously:

This is and has been a serious threat to US defense.

Not being a savvy politico myowndamnself, this is my gut reaction.

Unless there is some actual need for foreign investors buying up our soil (better they buy it that take it?) why give them any compensations.

I agree, those should go to farming families.

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this sounds so much like the 'Japanese are buying up all of Manhattan' from the 80s - it was supposed to have some terrible result if allowed to continue...

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hal
this sounds so much like the 'Japanese are buying up all of Manhattan' from the 80s - it was supposed to have some terrible result if allowed to continue...

Japan wasn't a Communist nation or considered to be hostile to the United States' interests.

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It is what it is.

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N-OS X-tasy!

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hal
this sounds so much like the 'Japanese are buying up all of Manhattan' from the 80s - it was supposed to have some terrible result if allowed to continue...

Japan wasn't a Communist nation or considered to be hostile to the United States' interests.

I would suggest it’s not so much ownership as it’s the environmental effects of what they’re doing (depleting groundwater supplies and making it harder for smaller family farms and local residents).

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Carnos Jax

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N-OS X-tasy!

Quote
hal
this sounds so much like the 'Japanese are buying up all of Manhattan' from the 80s - it was supposed to have some terrible result if allowed to continue...

Japan wasn't a Communist nation or considered to be hostile to the United States' interests.

I would suggest it’s not so much ownership as it’s the environmental effects of what they’re doing (depleting groundwater supplies and making it harder for smaller family farms and local residents).

It is both. You are correct, but an American agribusiness company would do the exact same thing.

However, consider the idea of a foreign nation hostile to the United States' interests owning land actively used to provide a portion of the US food supply. Does that seem like a good idea to you?

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It is what it is.

You’re absolutely right about the big domestic agribusinesses as well. And to your credit, in my layman’s mind, I can see agriculture being more strategically vulnerable than real estate in New York. But I’m no expert either. And so far the way the foreign interests (and domestic interest perhaps) behaved is to simply suck up resources and then move on once it’s gone, with no other strategic moves from what I can tell.

As I recall the 2013 Smithfield deal that raised such a hue and cry... there was not a single domestic buyer to bid. Not one.

Is having China own Smithfield a problem? Yes, I agree that it is - but, if you want to focus on the root of the problem, it's NOT China... it's the fact that we are losing interest in being a nation that produces it's own food. We're teaching kids "don't play in the dirt for a living, it's gross, menial, disgusting, low class, etc".

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Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
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Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
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