Bill would prohibit foreign adversary ownership of farm & forestry land

MADISON, Wis. (WRN) — Legislation to prohibit foreign adversaries from acquiring Wisconsin agricultural or forestry land had a hearing this week.

Assembly Agriculture Committee chair Representative Travis Tranel, himself a farmer, questioned the bill’s authors

“One of the questions I get asked a lot is how many acres in Wisconsin are currently owned by foreign entities?” Tranel said.

Representative William Penterman said according to USDA, 2.6% or roughly 600,000 acres of Wisconsin farmland is owned by foreign persons.

“It is difficult to tell exactly how much is . . . owned by the foreign adversaries, as would be defined in the bill,” Penteman said.

Current state law already places restrictions on foreign ownership of ag and forestry land, but the bill adds the language on foreign adversaries. While it doesn’t specify countries, Penterman and Senator Andre Jaque named communist China as their main concern.