Bill requires foreign owners of Iowa farmland to report more

DES MOINES — Foreign owners of Iowa farmland would be required to report more detailed information, although most of that information would not be made public under legislation that got its first legislative approval Tuesday at the Iowa Capitol.

The legislation was proposed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who raised the topic during her Jan. 9 Condition of the State address. Her proposal would require more robust reporting of information about foreign farmland owners, require the Iowa Secretary of State’s office to increase its tracking of such ownership and grant the Iowa Attorney General’s Office broader subpoena authority to investigate potential violations of state law about foreign farmland ownership.

Reynolds and state lawmakers in support of the proposal say Iowa already has strong laws regarding foreign land ownership, and her bill would make them even stronger.

“I think this is a great piece of legislation that’s going to advance our understanding of who our neighbors are,” Sen. Dan Zumbach, a Republican from Ryan and a farmer, said during the subcommittee hearing. “And I think all of us need to know who they are. Currently, that might be a question. But other than the people of Iowa, Iowa’s land is the most precious resource we have. … And this bill will clarify who (landowners) are.”

Still, the proposal would shield most of the newly reported information from public view. The Iowa Secretary of State would be required to file an annual report on foreign farmland ownership in Iowa — which would be made available to state lawmakers but not the public. Zumbach said he is not concerned with those provisions.

“I think the information, when this is all said and done, that the public will be able to have some redacted versions of that of what’s going on,” Zumbach told reporters. “But I think at this point, we’re good where we’re at. … I think at this point, I like where the legislation is.”

The proposed legislation was approved by Zumbach, his fellow Republican Sen. Dawn Driscoll, of Williamsburg, and Democratic Sen. Todd Taylor, of Cedar Rapids.

Iowa’s current primary foreign land ownership law says that a “non-resident alien, foreign business or foreign government … shall not purchase or otherwise acquire agricultural land in this state.” However, foreign people or firms who owned Iowa farmland before Jan. 1, 1980, were allowed to keep it but prohibited from buying more.

There are some exceptions, including farmland used for “testing, developing or producing seeds or plants for sale or resale to farmers” and land used for research or experimentation, not profits.

Farm group advocates spoke in favor of the governor’s bill during Tuesday’s hearing. There are no lobbying organizations registered in opposition to the bill. Legislative liaisons for the governor’s and Attorney General’s Office also spoke at the hearing.

“We think it’s a positive change for Iowa. We want to make sure that land stays in the hands of Iowans,” said Dan Breitbarth, with the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.

With that first approval, the bill — Senate Study Bill 3113 — becomes eligible for consideration by the full Iowa Senate Agriculture Committee.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com