Classroom Column: The Land Of Milk And Mao Money

This ESG University Classroom column is a bit different this week. Rather than focus on the specifics within the ESG realm, we are going to take a step back and look at how culture clashes and ideological issues begin. Call it the prequel or origin story of ESG (Environmental Social Governance) with American land.

Recently there has been some news about the People's Republic of China buying property in the United States. Some American elected leaders are speaking up too.

Senator Tom Cotton (Ark-R), Sen. Kevin Cramer (ND-R), Sen. John Hoeven (ND-R) and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are a few off the top of my head who have been sounding the metaphorical alarms about Chinese interests buying up farmland in the US, which happen to be near military bases.

Currently, approximately 30 million acres of American farmland is owned by foreigners or about 2.2 percent of all American farmland. That’s an area roughly the size of Pennsylvania.

Furthermore, these foreign owners are essentially absent from being hand-on caretakers of literally some of the best real estate in the United States.

As of 2019, China owned 191,000 acres worth about $2 billion. This might sound like a drop in the bucket, but Chinese ownership of American farmland has exploded dramatically since the "too big to fail" government subsidies and bailouts started.

Federally, there is no law prohibiting foreigners from owning land, but some states do. There are six states who ban foreign ownership of land — Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota and Oklahoma.

In the case of North Dakota, there is a "front-man" from America who is middle-manning or managing the deal. Chinese food manufacturer Fufeng Group bought 300 acres of land near Grand Forks, North Dakota, to set up a milling plant. The project is located about 20 minutes from the Grand Forks Air Force Base, raising national security concerns.

According to CNBC, Gary Bridgeford, who sold his parcel of the farmland to the Chinese company for around $2.6 million this year, said his neighbors have vented their anger at him and planted signs opposing the project in his front yard. “I’ve been threatened,” he said. “I’ve been called every name in the book for selling property.”

Bridgeford said he believes the national security concerns are overblown. “How would they gain any knowledge of the base?” he asked. “It’s about 12 miles away. It isn’t like its next door.”

Bridgeford’s response is antiquated, shallow and just outright preposterous. Hasn't the CNBC reporter or Bridgeford ever heard of drones, Tik Tok or cybersecurity? How about 3D Printers or facial recognition?