USDA says foreign ownership
*
of U.S. farmland limited
WASHINGTON, D.C. -
Foreign groups and in
dividuals have reported they
owned 5.2 million acres of
WIC BEDDING-CHOPPER
CREUTZBURG, INC.
Livestock Supplies
Phone 717-768-7181
Open Daily - 8 to 5: Saturday 8 to 12
★ PRODUCTS ARE AVAILABLE BY MAIL
Send For CREUTZBURG, INC.
FREE CATALOG: Lincoln Highway East, Box 7
Paradise, PA 17562
NAME
STREET
CITY
STATE..
U.S. agricultural land, as of
Oct. 31, 1979, according to a
report released today by
Secretary of Agriculture Bob
★ CUT YOUR BEDDING
TIME IN HALF!
Will Chop up To 60
Bales Per Hour
Available With Battery
or Gasoline Engine
ZIP
Bergland.
The report, compiled from
6500 reports filed with USDA
between February and
October 1979 under the
requirements of the
Agricultural Foreign In
vestment Disclosure Act of
1978, was sent last Friday to
both President Carter and
the Congress and released to
the public. The 5.2 million
acres includes land held as
of Feb. 1, 1979 and land
bought or sold between Feb.
land Oct. 31,1979.
The report to Congress and
the President is required
under the Act to analyze in
greater detail the reports of
holdings (2,899,998 acres),
purchases (154,432 acres)
and sales (4991 acres) from
Feb. 1 through Aug. 24. The
study shows that of 2.9
million acres held on Feb. 1,
1979:
Foreign ownership is
concentrated in the South,
although foreign
agricultural landholdings
were reported m all stages
except Rhode Island.
Georgia, South Carolina, and
Tennessee account for 25
percent of all foreign-owned
acreage the study showed
A few countries account
for the bulk of foreign-held
U.S. agncutural land. In
vestors from the United
Kingdom, Luxembourg, and
West Germany hold 52
percent of all foreign-owned
land reported.
U.S. corporations with at
least five percent foreign
ownership hold 76 percent of
the 2.9 million acres of
foreign-held agricultural
land.
43 percent of the
agricultural land held by
foreigners is forest land.
Of foreign owners, 91
percent reported no change
in use of land after buying
although they tend to in
crease production and in
tensify the existing use.
The amount of foreign
ownership is so small that it
is unlikely to have
significant unpact except in
a few communities.
Under the law, foreign
persons who owned U.S.
agricultural land as
of February 1, 1979, were
required to file a report with
USDA by August 1. Anyone
not having done so are now
in penalty status. Those who
acquired or disposed of U.S.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 9,1980—D1l
agricultural land after
February 1 must file within
90 days.
They must file with
USDA’s Agricultural
Stabilization and Con
servation Service office
serving the county where the
land is located. Failure to
report, or filing late or
misleading reports, can
result in penalties of up to 25
percent of the fair market
value of the owner’s interest
in the agricultural land.
All foreign individuals,
governments, or legal en
tities created under the law
of, or having their principal
place of business in, a
foreign country are required
to file.
Chemical firm
again
verdict
CHICAGO, m,
second claim to be tned as a
result of the mixing of the
flame retardant PBB with
animal feed ended with
another judgement in favor
of Velsicol Chemical Cor
poration, an operating
company of Northwest In
dustries, Inc.
As in the first trial, a
circuit court judge again
ruled the evidence did not
show that PBB caused any
damage to cattle and
rejected the claim of Clyde
and Michael Kmsel, father
and son, who operated a
dairy farm in Ogden
Township, Lenawee County,
Michigan.
The Knisels sought
damages of approximately
$900,000, alleging injury to
their livestock from a farm
cooperative, Farm Bureau
In addition, all U.S. legal
entities in which foreigners
hold 5 percent or more in
terest are required to report
their agricultural lan
dholdings.
The law defines
agricultural land as all land
used for agricultural,
forestry, or timber
production. This includes
land in agricultural use
when purchased as well as
land later converted to
agricultural use.
Tracts smaller than one
acres, which produce less
than |lOOO worth of gross
agricultural sales a year,
are exempt from the
reporting requirement.
wins PBB
in court
The
Services and Velsicol, which
was merged in 1976 with the
former Michigan Chemical
Company, which produced
PBB.
In October 1978, the first
claim to be tried for PBB
cattle damages ended with
the same decision. In that
case-the longest bench trial
in the State of Michigan’s
history-dairy farmers Mr.
and Mrs. Roy Tacoma of
Falmouth, Michigan, un
successfully sought $1
million damages.
Velsicol said that the latest
decision again demonstrates
the fact that low levels of
PBB are not harmful to
cattle.
The vedict in the second
claim was handed down by
Judge Rex Martin, Circuit
Court for Lenawee County.