The top foreign country in terms of ownership of U.S. agricultural land? And while foreign ownership has increased steadily over the past two decades, long-term leasing is the main driver of the increasing foreign interests, and many foreign transactions are related to renewable-energy development. “I became interested in this, especially Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland, because of the political attention it was getting,” Zhang said. In April 2023, Arkansas implemented legislation that bars a “prohibited foreign party” (PFP) from acquiring agricultural land, and prohibits acquisition by any PFP-controlled business. “There’s been talk, especially now during election season, that China is trying to potentially control millions of acres of U.S. farmland,” he said.