A federal report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture has revealed has revealed that Maine has the highest percentage of foreign-owned land of any U.S. state.
“The state of Texas has the largest amount of foreign-held U.S. agricultural land with over 5.4 million acres,” the USDA report states. “Maine has the second largest amount of foreign-held agricultural acres, with just under 3.5 million.”
By percentage, Maine has more of its privately held agricultural land under foreign control (21.1 percent) than any other state, according to the report.
The vast majority of that land is timberland owned by Canadians or Canada-based businesses.
Per the report, Canadian investors own 2.9 million acres in Maine, while investors from the Netherlands own 187,294 acres, U.K. investors own 717 acres, German investors own 22,605 acres, and investors from “all others” own 314,982 acres.
The report flags in particular a 98-acre parcel in Etna, located at 51 Pickett Road, owned by Chinese national Xiaofeng Yang.
Although the transaction isn’t described in the report, Penobscot County land records indicate that the parcel was sold to a Georgia-based company — New MX, LLC — registered to Zhaoju Shen of Lilburn, Ga., shortly after it was purchased.
