By Brianna Kraemer for The Carolina Journal

Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly want to prohibit hostile foreign governments, like China and Russia, from buying agricultural land and property surrounding military installations. 

The NC Farmland and Military Protection Act was filed this week by Reps. Jennifer Balkcom, R-Henderson, Neal Jackson, R-Moore, Jeff Zenger, R-Forsyth, and John Bell, R-Wayne. The legislation aims to ban foreign enemies from buying farmland in North Carolina amid reports of growing foreign investments in US agricultural land and the systems used to collect.

“Having grown up on a family farm, I know how important it is to preserve North Carolina’s farmland,” said Rep. Jennifer Balkcom. “Our state’s agricultural land is one of our most important assets and it is common sense that we protect it from foreign enemies.”

In North Carolina, upwards of 700,000 acres, or 3.5% of agricultural land, is foreign held, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. In an effort to protect state and national security, bill sponsors said foreign adversaries, such as China, should never be allowed to acquire North Carolina farmland.

“It is a direct threat to our state and nation to allow China and other adversaries to buy farmland and property surrounding military bases,” said Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne. “We must act now to close this dangerous loophole and put a stop to these foreign land grabs.”

Farmland and military bases are two important factors across the state. As Carolina Journal previously reported, foreign investments in North Carolina land falls in line with the national trend of US foreign holdings of agricultural land. In 2022, US foreign holdings of agricultural land grew by more than 8%, according to a report by Reuters. 

The legislation would prohibit foreign governments – that have been designated by the U.S. Department of State as adversarial – from purchasing, acquiring, leasing or holding any interest in agricultural land or land situated within a 75-mile radius of a military installation. This includes China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela. It would also apply to a business in which one of these foreign adversarial governments have a controlling interest.

“As our state’s top two economic drivers, we must take a stand to protect our farmland and military bases from foreign threats,” said Zenger. “This legislation is vital to safeguarding our national security and defending our most valuable resource.”

The House unanimously passed similar legislation in the last legislative session, though it was not considered in the Senate.

The preceding article originally appeared on February 18, 2025 at The Carolina Journal’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Any views or opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Carolina Leadership Coalition.