U.S. lawmakers from both political parties are pushing legislation that would limit who can own American farmland, with a latest effort from Democratic Senator Cory Booker aimed at curbing corporate ownership.

Farm groups and lawmakers are concerned that land buys by investors and foreign countries are driving up farmland prices and threatening national security.

Booker’s Farmland for Farmers Act, introduced today (Thu), would ban most corporations, pension funds and investment funds from buying or leasing farmland.

Institutional investors – including Nuveen Natural Capital, a subsidiary of TIAA, and UBS Farmland Investors – own $15.9 billion of farmland, according to the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries’ Farmland Index.

The average price of an acre of U-S farmland was $3,800 in 2022, a record high and up 75% from 2008, according to USDA data.

(Reuters)