The Land Grab
Foreign governments, private equity, and Big Ag are scooping up US farmland at record pace. We track every acre and every shell company behind the deal.
Disclosure Isn't Enough: The Push to Close the Farmland Loophole
Federal law requires foreign buyers to report ag land purchases — but doesn't block them. A wave of state bans tries to fill the gap, unevenly.
AI Data Centers and Solar Farms Are Eating the Midwest's Best Land
As AI infrastructure investment surges, data centers and solar farms are competing with family farms for Midwest land — raising alarms from USDA to state legislatures.
Who Really Owns American Farmland? The Paper Trail Nobody Wants You to Follow
Foreign investors hold roughly 45 million acres of US farmland — and the federal database meant to track them is so broken even the GAO can't trust it.
Wall Street Discovered Dirt: How Private Equity Turned Farmland Into a Yield Play
Pension funds and PE firms now treat US farmland like a bond that grows corn. For young farmers trying to buy in, that math is a wall they can't climb.
America's Biggest Pork Producer Is Chinese-Owned — and It Sits on a Lot of US Land
Smithfield, the largest US pork company, has been owned by China's WH Group since 2013. The deal still shapes the farmland and foreign-ownership debate today.