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# GRAPHIC: Foreign-owned land growing across the United States
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/graphic-foreign-owned-land-growing-across-the-united-states/
- Published: 2023-11-29T11:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2023-11-29T11:00:00.000Z
- Description: More than 40 million acres of U.S. land is owned or leased by foreign-backed companies or individuals
- Author: Ben Felder, Investigate Midwest
- Tags: Data Harvest, Government, afida, TP::Explainer, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

Since 2015, the amount of land owned or leased by foreign individuals or companies has more than tripled, [sparking increased political attention on whether new restrictions should be put in place](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/oklahoma-governor-says-china-is-buying-up-the-states-farmland-the-data-he-cites-points-to-other-countries/).

Foreign-owned land nationwide remained steady at around 15 million acres during the 1980s and 1990s, according to USDA records.

But foreign-owned acres have increased significantly over the last decade, topping 40 million in 2021.

Some states, like Oklahoma, and members of Congress [have highlighted land owned by Chinese companies](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/oklahoma-governor-says-china-is-buying-up-the-states-farmland-the-data-he-cites-points-to-other-countries/). A handful of foreign meat-producing companies, like Smithfield Foods, a Chinese-owned pork producer, own land across the country for farms or meat packing facilities.

However, most of the growth in foreign-owned land has been from North American and European companies, many building wind and solar farms.