PIERRE, S.D.(SDBA) – The South Dakota House’s Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee unanimously passed a bill that would ban select foreign countries from purchasing farm land in South Dakota.
House Bill 1231, carried by Rep. JD Wangsness of Miller, would ban six countries deemed to be hostile from purchasing land in the Rushmore State. Those countries are: Iran, China, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia.
The push comes as some of those countries, specifically China, have begun buying up swaths of American farmland over the last several years.
“As you know, South Dakota’s number one industry is agriculture,” Wangsness said. “Losing our dirt to foreign interests is a threat, there is instability in the world and there are those that wish us harm.”
The bill, a priority of Gov. Kristi Noem’s both this year and last, was defeated on the Senate floor last year over concerns that it would give too much authority to the Governor to block certain land purchases. In its lone committee hearing in 2023, it was testified against by nearly every agricultural organization with a lobbyist in Pierre.
This year for the scaled back proposal, there was no opposition testimony at all.
That, though, said Committee Chair Roger Chase, did not give him comfort – as still not a single ag group testified in favor of the bill either.
“You can’t ignore the elephant in the room here, which is that no agriculture groups testified in favor of this bill,” Chase said. “This has been whittled down to where they are neutral, but I am telling you that they are nervous about it still.”
Others lauded the legislation as a step towards cracking down on more foreign real estate purchases in the future. If passed, foreign governments would still be able to purchase non-agricultural properties under most circumstances.
“We all see the importance of beefing up our national security, as well as protecting our land,” said Rep. Karla Lems. “It has been difficult for our own people to compete against these other interests coming into our state.
The bill will likely be heard before the full House on Monday.