(The Center Square) – A new U.S. Department of Agriculture report found that foreign investors own nearly 10% of Michigan’s farmland.
Foreign entities or U.S. companies with a “significant foreign interest” hold 1.9 million acres of agricultural land in the state, accounting for 8.8% of Michigan’s total farmland. That share ranks Michigan third-highest nationally for foreign-owned farmland, behind only Maine at 21.3% and Hawaii at 17.1%.
Overall, foreign-owned land of all types in Michigan totals 1.95 million acres – or 5.4% of all Michigan’s acreage.
Foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land has grown sharply in recent years, both nationally and in Michigan.
According to the USDA report, foreign holdings increased by an average of 600,000 acres per year from 2013 to 2017. Since 2017, that pace has accelerated to more than 2.4 million acres annually, with yearly increases ranging from 1.3 million to 3.4 million acres.
As of December 2024, most foreign-owned agricultural land in Michigan consisted of forest, followed by cropland and pasture.
Foreign ownership is concentrated in Michigan’s forests, making up 1,710,392 acres. The Upper Peninsula has been especially impacted by this.
A July report from Bridge Michigan found that the government of Singapore owns more than 5% of all land in the Upper Peninsula, making it the largest known foreign landowner in the state.
Singapore, however, was not individually listed in the USDA report. The agency named five countries with major holdings, grouping all other foreign owners into a single “other” category.
According to the report, the majority of foreign-owned Michigan land is held by countries in that other category – or 1 million acres. Of the countries listed:
• Netherlands owns 458,481 acres
• Canada owns 358,489 acres
• Italy owns 56,692 acres
• Germany owns 27,141 acres
• United Kingdom owns 20,210 acres
Many states have been pushing back against this claim by foreign entities to American land. For example, North Carolina, Missouri, and Arkansas all saw drops in the landholdings of foreign investors from 2023 to 2024.
In contrast though, Michigan’s increased by 71,697. That ranked it seventh-nationally for the largest growth over that one-year period.
State House Republicans have tried to slow that growth with a series of bills which passed the House last spring, but the Democrat-held state Senate let them die upon arrival in committee.
Republican candidate for Attorney General Kevin Kijewski said the report’s findings are very concerning.
“This threatens our food supply, national security, and families dependent on this land,” Kijewski posted to social media on Wednesday. “President Trump’s National Farm Security Action Plan is fighting back, but Michigan needs strong state action too.”
