Foreign adversaries such as China and Russia would be barred from owning or leasing farmland in Indiana if a bill before the General Assembly is approved — a proposal backed by U.S. Senator Mike Braun and U.S. Rep. Jim Banks.
Braun and Banks have written a letter to state lawmakers, and shared exclusively with IndyStar, showing “full support” of the proposed Indiana legislation. House Bill 1183, authored by Rep. Kendell Culp, R-Rennselaer, “provides the serious response needed to protect Hoosier agricultural land,” the letter says.
The issue is a growing concern across the country: The amount of foreign-owned land has increased by 40% since 2016, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Now, dozens of states in addition to Indiana — as well as Braun and other members of Congress — are considering how to limit the practice.
Indiana was one of the first states in 2022 to pass legislation related to foreign ownership, but Culp’s bill takes it a step further.
“That earlier bill had a lot of exemptions and holes to the bill, so I felt we needed to tighten that up and be more specific,” he told IndyStar. “There’s really very little tolerance for any foreign investment in Indiana farmland if this bill passes.”