National Agricultural Law Center

There is, we are seeing an uptick in farm bankruptcies.

There was some data that was put out by the National Agricultural Law Center back in August that really starts to chart farm bankruptcies, both at the Chapter 11 and 12 levels.

And we had a little bit of a decline in 2022 and 2023, but an uptick in 2024.

And we're back with 340 in 2025.

Well, more than half of US states now have some type of restriction on foreign ownership of agricultural land.

Harrison Pittman, director of the National Agricultural Law Center, says many of those laws are aimed at foreign adversaries rather than all foreign investors.

Most of your foreign ownership is Canada, the Netherlands, the UK, Italy, Germany, and I'm probably leaving one out there.

But that's, that's almost 70%, 66 to 70% of foreign ownership are those entities, when the real target was certain categories of foreign adversaries.

So I would watch that.

And frankly, the, uh, particularly on the Senate side, provisions regarding foreign ownership and AFIDA specifically are in contradiction with what USDA proposed.

Once again, Harrison Pittman, the director of the National Agricultural Law Center.

A few fast facts courtesy of the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois.

Foreign ownership of US farmland is a debate within states and at the federal level, but the argument often centers on perception as much as policy.

Harrison Pittman is director of the National Agricultural Law Center and is watching the debates unfold across the US.

He says opinions differ widely on whether foreign-held agricultural land represents a real threat.

There's a very large, uh, very large land purchase near a military base in Texas by a Chinese landowner, and that really triggered a lot of, of, of interest in this.

30 or so states now have some type of restriction on foreign ownership.

Harrison Pittman of the National Agricultural Law Center went on to tell RFD TV that most foreign-owned acreage belongs to investors from allied nations, while many new restrictions target nations considered adversaries.

48 states will change their clocks come November 1st as daylight savings time comes to an end.

Most states voted to end the practice.

At the end of calendar year 2022, a super majority of states in the United States affirmatively allowed for foreign ownership, regardless of country of origin.

30 or so states now have some type of restriction on foreign ownership.

Harrison Pittman of the National Agricultural Law Center went on to tell RFD TV that most foreign-owned acreage belongs to investors from allied nations, while many new restrictions target nations considered adversaries.

48 states will change their clocks come November 1st as daylight savings time comes to an end.

And November sugar closed out unchanged at 38.45. More than half of U.S. states, including Louisiana, have some type of restriction on foreign ownership of ag land.

Harrison Pittman, director of the National Agricultural Law Center, says many of those laws are aimed at foreign adversaries rather than all foreign investors.

most of your foreign ownership is Canada, the Netherlands, the UK, Italy, Germany.

That's almost 70 percent, 66 to 70 percent of foreign ownership for those entities when the real target was certain categories of foreign adversaries.

The fact that they're now sending some pandas, it just shows me that the relationship is on the uptrend, which is good.

A leader with the National Agricultural Law Center says understanding farm bankruptcy trends requires looking at more than just Chapter 12 filings.

Senior Staff Attorney Elizabeth Rumley says Chapter 12 is specifically designed for family farmers and fishermen with regular annual income.

If you don't have at least 50% of your income from an ag business, then you're not even eligible to file with it in the first place.

It might have that ad connection because you have, you know, maybe a couple both have off-farm jobs and those off-farm income levels are high enough for small farms to make it so you don't meet that 50% threshold.

Rumley says Chapter 12 provides eligible ag operations with a structured process for reorganizing debt while continuing to operate the farm or ranch.

Rumley says it's important for the National Agricultural Law Center to track data for both chapters because it provides a broader view of the financial stress in the industry.

An economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation says there's a common misconception that cattle producers are benefiting from record high beef prices.