Quade files bill to ban foreign corporate ownership of MO farmland

Minority Leader Crystal Quade (MHDC)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, filed legislation Monday to completely ban companies from outside the United States from owning Missouri farmland.

“Our caucus will prioritize this bill and others like it because we want to make laws that invest in Missourians, not overseas corporate interests more concerned with extracting profit from one of our state’s most valuable resources: its world-class farmland,” Quade said. “Passing this bill would support family farms and ensure that Missourians who have farmed for generations can continue to carry on that proud tradition.”

Following in the footsteps of state Sen. Doug Beck’s Senate Bill 144, Quade’s House Bill 707 would eliminate a provision put into statute in 2013 that allows foreign corporate entities to own up to 1 percent of Missouri farmland. A 2022 survey from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that foreign business entities own 1.1 percent of Missouri’s farmland, more than should be allowed by law. Investigate Midwest found that figure could be even higher.