![]() Officials with Campbell Farms, the Grafton, N.D.-based potato farm that sold to Red River Trust, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview. And Gates' Red River Trust has announced plans to lease the purchased land back to farmers, which might allay concerns about corporate farming, as it did in the North Dakota AG's perspective. It's not against state law for a foreign investor to own a milling plant. Still, both the cases in North Dakota could, feasibly, happen in Minnesota. "And no foreign citizen can own farmland unless they've been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence." "The Midwest states all have some sort of law preventing corporate farms," Spanier said. "The vast majority - 70 to 80 percent - of farmland is sold to neighboring farmers," said Glen Fladeboe, of Fladeboe Land, a brokerage specializing in the sale of Minnesota farmland.ĭoug Spanier, an attorney with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, said other than exemptions for timber and wind-energy easements on ag land, state law ensures farmland remains controlled mostly by either farmers or their landlords. Only citizens, permanent residents or entities with less than 20% foreign investment can own Minnesota farmland. The state's laws against foreign and corporate ownership of farms keep the state relatively secure from interloping buyers. In Minnesota, only 1.6% of the state's farmland is owned by foreign entities, according to the latest U.S. The subsequent corn mill the group hopes to develop - still pending approval - has drawn intense scrutiny over national security concerns.Īlso this summer, in an unrelated action, North Dakota's attorney general approved the sale of parcels of land in Pembina and Walsh counties to Red River Trust, a Washington-based entity with ties to the tech billionaire Gates. In both cases, the nation has looked to North Dakota.Įarlier this year, a Grand Forks fracas erupted after a Chinese-backed investment firm purchased 300 acres of land within 20 minutes of an Air Force base. ![]() agricultural lands and gaining control over agribusiness ventures. ![]() It's been a summer of unease in farm country, with a flurry of national reports about Chinese investors and eco-minded billionaires buying up U.S. "I think the little guy needs some help." "I hear stories of Bill Gates buying up hundreds of thousands of acres for corporate farms," said Rainwater of Lake City. James Rainwater might not be a household name in Minnesota politics.īut on Tuesday morning at a forum discussion for congressional candidates in southern Minnesota, the attorney corralled the attention of farmers in the open-air shed at Farmfest in Redwood County.
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