The Daily Mail has released a new map breaking down the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) most recent data on Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland, which has seen a dramatic increase since 2010.
[RELATED: 3.5 Million Acres of Maine Land Owned by Foreign Interests: USDA…]
“The Mexican cartels are dropping off millions in cash from the sale of poisonous drugs to the Chinese criminals and the cash is being used in many cases to buy this real estate,” said former DEA Special Operations Director Derek Maltz on X.
The new map breaks down USDA data showing foreign ownership of agricultural land as of the end of 2022, which showed that foreign companies owned roughly 3.4 percent of all agricultural land in the U.S., and two percent of all the country’s total land.
A large amount of that land is owned by foreign adversaries, including China.
According to the USDA, Chinese companies affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) owned agricultural land in 29 states, totaling 346,915 acres, a significant amount of which is in close proximity to U.S. military bases.
Chinese companies held the largest amount of agricultural land in Oregon, according to the Daily Mail, with 198,000 acres, while Texas comes in second with 159,640 acres owned by companies based out of the foreign adversary.
Maine was the only New England state with any Chinese owned agricultural land, with 98 acres listed under Chinese ownership by the USDA.
That number would be significantly larger if the properties used to cultivate thousands of illegal marijuana plants throughout Maine by Chinese transnational criminal organizations were considered agricultural.
Numerous legislative attempts have been made to prevent China from purchasing U.S. farmland, which is vital to national security, and, although such legislation has passed in states Florida, Arkansas, and Texas, Maine’s attempts to pass similar laws have failed.
The USDA data shows that China is far from being the largest foreign owner of U.S. agricultural land, with Canada far outstripping all other countries; however, the communist-controlled country has drastically increased its holdings in the past decade.
According to the USDA, Chinese companies only held 13,720 acres in 2010, but have since increased that number to the 346,915 last reported.
Other sources have suggested that the amount of agricultural land under Chinese ownership is far greater than the USDA data would suggest.
One 2022 report from the China Merchants Holding International Company (CMHI) claimed that China owns 700,000 acres of U.S. farmland, more than double the amount listed by the USDA.
