Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds recently signed a new bill into law that strengthens existing lawS against foreign ownership of agricultural land.

Senate File 2204 increases reporting requirements and transparency with foreign agriculture land ownership, providing outlets for the state attorney general to investigate any issues and increases the penalties should a foreign entity be found owning ag land and farming it in perpetuity. Raccoon Valley Radio caught up with Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig on one of his stops in Greene County prior to this bill becoming law and he says the legislation builds more protective measures into the original laws that were established in 1980.

“And so what we wanted to do was to continue to say that, ‘We do have the strongest laws in the nation, we are the model.’ That is built on a position of strength and being able to reassure Iowans that we are very much watching this and that it’s not an issue, and we’ve just strengthened that position.”  

Naig adds while foreign ag land ownership hasn’t been an issue in the past, other states have had these situations occur, without any laws in place to stop them or hold those entities accountable. You can click here to see the new law.