Latest news with #farmland
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Farmers in New Zealand fight pine forests to save sheep pasture
New Zealand sheep farmers are fighting to stop the loss of pasture to fast-spreading pine plantations, which earn government subsidies to soak up carbon emissions. Concern over the scale of the farm-to-forest switch led the government to impose a moratorium in December on any new conversions not already in the pipeline. But farmers say forestry companies are flouting the clampdown. Last month, farmers launched a 'Save our Sheep' campaign to reverse the loss of productive farmland. Sheep numbers have plummeted to around 23 million, down from a peak of around 70 million in the 1980s, according to official figures. Falling wool prices and rising milk and beef costs initially drove the decline, but the emissions trading since 2008 has added to the strain. The government is now investigating potential breaches of its moratorium by forestry companies, which have been buying up farmland as recently as June.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
The rare bipartisan movement to block China's under-the-radar land grab amid growing fears about the creeping adversary on the hunt
A coalition of senators from both sides of the aisle is sounding the alarm about what they see as a quiet but dangerous trend across America's heartland: Acres of farmland falling into foreign hands, with China leading the seizures. The urgency behind their concern is driven by a stark trendline: Chinese agricultural investments in the U.S. have skyrocketed tenfold over the past decade, according to Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who has sponsored the 'Farmland Act.' The legislation is designed to stymie Chinese influence over U.S. land by giving the federal government more oversight of agricultural property owned by foreign countries. It's an effort with one overarching goal in mind: Curtail the creeping ambitions of one of our top adversaries. Ernst explicitly calls out China, which 'in particular has increased agricultural investments tenfold over the past decade.' Ernst told the Daily Mail that 'limiting the opportunities for foreign entities, especially adversaries like China' to purchase farmland is critically important. China 'will come in and purchase that land, so that we're not able to put it into production, and in turn they are,' Ernst noted. There is bipartisan consensus that China is a threat to the United States in areas such as intellectual property and global competitiveness, but Democrats and Republicans typically disagree on the best ways to deal with the adversarial nation. Republicans are raising concerns about insufficient oversight in government programs that fund research and technological innovation, particularly when foreign nationals are leading projects financed by U.S. taxpayers. Democrats, on the other hand, are blaming the Trump administration for cutting funding to research initiatives they say are critical to maintaining America's competitiveness in emerging technologies. Despite the disagreements, Ernst has been able to draft two Democrats to support the bill: Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. Republicans Rick Scott of Florid a and Ted Budd of North Carolina have also signed on, giving it wide geographical support. Opposition to the Farmland Act centers on concerns about expanded federal oversight and regulatory burdens for foreign investors in acquiring U.S. agricultural property. Legitimate investments could see their transactions disrupted or delayed, these critics argue. Still, many states have already taken steps to limit foreign purchases of their land, including Ernst's Iowa. 'But, if you go back and look across the United States at what we already have sold to foreign entities, if you put all those acres together, its going to be larger than the state of Tennessee,' Ernst told the Daily Mail. In Budd's state of North Carolina, China owns nearly 50,000 acres of farmland, some of it near critical sites such as us military bases. Scott's home state of Florida is home to nearly 13,000 acres of farmland owned by China. Ernst's bill isn't the only one in the works that aims to stop China's efforts to buy up American agricultural land. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley has introduced the Protecting Our Farms and Homes from China Act, and Representative Mary Miller introduced a House compliment to his bill this week. Twelve Republican members have co-sponsored Miller's bill in the House. The Trump administration claimed back in February that overall, China owns over 350,000 acres in 27 states. Foreign entities and individuals own roughly 43 million acres of U.S. agricultural land, nearly 2 percent of all U.S. land, according to government data. A Government Accountability Office report from 2024 determined that foreign acquisitions of U.S. land are difficult to identify. It also determined that a prior report from 2021 - claiming that foreign entities owned 40 million acres - was inaccurate. Trump's Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced recently that the Department of Agriculture (USDA) would not allow 'Chinese nationals' or other foreign adversaries to purchase farmland in the United States. 'American agriculture is not just about feeding our families but about protecting our nation and standing up to foreign adversaries who are buying our farmland, stealing our research and creating dangerous vulnerabilities in the very systems that sustain us,' Rollins said.
RNZ News
5 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Country Life: Sweet success for Coromandel couple's organic honey
The hives are scattered across farmland, orchards and other areas in parts of the northern Coromandel peninsula Photo: Supplied A honey shed on a hill is buzzing with the sound of honey flowing into jars as the bees take a hard-earned rest from honey-making. Country Life meets Shayne and Elizabeth Mackenzie whose organic honey is produced from hives scattered over remote parts of the northern Coromandel Peninsula. Shayne Mackenzie has just wrapped up queen rearing for the season - a tricky job, but one that's vital to keep his organic honey operation humming in the far reaches of the Coromandel Peninsula. "Timing's everything. Big, long, sunny days is what you want when those queens come out." To keep moving ahead and to deal with all the stresses on hives these days, healthy queens for the next season are crucial, he said. Shayne rears queen bees to replace older queens in order to keep colony numbers up and maximise honey flow. He uses a grafting technique to collect and place the correct size larvae into special queen cell cups. Photo: Supplied "Often the queen will fail at a bad time, and then you'll end up with a drone-laying hive [...] pretty much it's a death sentence for them. "There's a whole lot of male bees just stuck in the cells, really, because if they get too weak and there's not enough help to get out, that's what happens." Follow Country Life on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts. Pouring and packing honey Photo: RNZ/Sally Round It was early autumn when Country Life dropped into the Mackenzies' honey shed not far from Colville, and with the honey harvest and queen-rearing over, there was still plenty to do. Shayne and his wife and business partner Elizabeth were filling jars and packing them into boxes stamped with the Woodland's Organic Honey label, to be sent off to honey-lovers in New Zealand, Europe and Asia. This year the couple won another two gold medals and one silver at the Outstanding Food Producer Awards for their multifloral and mānuka honey varieties, and they have lately launched their rewarewa and kānuka labels. Woodland's organic honey is exported to Europe and Asia as well as sold online and in New Zealand Photo: RNZ/Sally Round Woodland's honey range includes kānuka and mānuka varieties Photo: Supplied The Mackenzies are one of New Zealand's few organic honey producers who must meet a multitude of requirements to ensure certified organic status. Shayne and his small team of beekeepers travel around northern parts of the Coromandel to tend the hives scattered over farmland, orchards and land owned by communities, ensuring distance from spraying, regular testing and also ensuring hives aren't taken out of the area, all subject to audit. "You have to be a long way from any heavy agriculture or even a large town. "Leaving honey on the hives, it's part of the gig, you know, we have to leave food for the bees. That's a big deal." Shayne started in the bee business as a teenager on summer jobs, eventually taking on the company which started out with one truck, and "some pretty old equipment." "It's pretty much 30 years since I first went out with Don Sutherland harvesting, who was the original owner of the bees around here. "He had some quite vicious bees and I was quite young, and it didn't really go that well getting stung. I swelled up pretty bad. "I'd like to think we've tamed the bees a little bit by breeding some slightly kinder ones," he said, laughing. Woodland's Organic Honey beekeepers in the field Photo: Supplied The landscape has changed too. The Mackenzies are contributing to the diminishing gorse, which the bees have a taste for, planting 1500 mainly mānuka trees. Elizabeth met Shayne while working as a shepherd near Port Jackson further north. "I've, you know, sort of taken over all the marketing, exports, sales, the books, social media. "When you own your own business, you fill all of those roles." Woodland's Organic Honey beekeepers in the field Photo: Supplied So how have the pair weathered turbulent times in the honey industry, with oversupply a particular problem in recent years? "Well, fortunately, when times were good, we didn't just buy a Ferrari," Shayne said. They have made strategic investments and adapted to market conditions. "Because I do know that the business can be up and down enormous amounts, like I used to think it could be plus or minus 60 percent but after the other year (after Cyclone Gabrielle) and we got eight percent of the crop, I guess that means you can be plus or minus 92 percent. "We just found ways to raise capital and keep going." Things are looking more positive though, Elizabeth added. "It's still going to be slow like the hive numbers have about halved in the last few years, and this year's national crop is just below average. "There has not been as much honey produced so that helps even out the supply and demand, so I guess we just have to get back to a place where there's more of a level playing field."
Fox News
6 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
EXCLUSIVE: House Republican introduces companion bill to end China's buying of American farmland
EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are taking direct aim at actors tied to the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) growing grip on American farmland. In an exclusive to Fox News Digital, Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., said she will introduce a House version of Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley's "Protecting Our Farms and Homes from China Act" Thursday morning, or H.R. 840, "Saving American Farms from Adversaries Act." The legislation is part of a growing GOP push to block the CCP from buying up U.S. farmland and homes. "Prized American land is not for sale to our enemies," Miller said in a statement to Fox News MOVES TO BLOCK CHINA'S BUY-UP OF US FARMLAND AS TRUMP ADMIN SOUNDS ALARM "The Chinese Communist Party is the greatest threat to our national security, and their aggressive push to buy up our farmland and homes is a direct attack on our sovereignty. It's long past time we take back control and put America's food supply and communities back in American hands — where they belong," she added. The bill comes amid rising concerns over Beijing's growing footprint in American markets and real estate. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Chinese entities currently own roughly 265,000 acres of American agricultural land. That number has set off alarm bells for lawmakers and voters alike. "For far too long, foreign adversaries have taken advantage of our farmland. While USDA doesn't currently have the authority to prevent the purchase of farmland by foreign nationals, we are actively working to improve the accuracy of foreign-owned farmland reporting so that the public, Congress, and State governments have the relevant data needed to make informed policy decisions," a USDA spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement. "This is just one of the many actions outlined in our recent National Farm Security Action Plan to defend the homeland." Miller's bill closely tracks Hawley's Senate version. The proposal would ban Chinese corporations and individuals affiliated with the CCP from acquiring or leasing any agricultural land in the U.S. It would also prohibit purchases of U.S. residential real estate by those same entities for two years, with an option for the president to extend the ban every two years. Entities that already hold such property would be required to divest within one year of the bill becoming law. To enforce compliance, the legislation imposes steep civil fines: $100 per acre per day for illegal agricultural holdings, and $1,000 per day for residential real estate violations. Criminal penalties include up to five years in prison. Land acquired in violation of the law would be subject to forfeiture and sold at public auction. The bill also nullifies non-compete agreements involving foreign agricultural employers and establishes compliance offices within the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce to oversee enforcement. The attorney general would have the authority to seize assets and seek court orders to stop violations. Miller's push aligns with President Donald Trump's newly launched "National Farm Security Action Plan," led by Trump officials including Brooke Rollins, Pete Hegseth, Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem. The plan is aimed at protecting U.S. food systems and farmland from what Trump has called "foreign exploitation." Miller's bill will debut Friday with a dozen Republican co-sponsors. According to Miller's office, those backing the legislation include Reps. Pat Harrigan, Ralph Norman, Paul Gosar, Bob Onder, Marlin Stutzman, Tim Burchett, Randy Weber, Tom Tiffany, Andy Harris, Tony Wied, Michael Rulli and Eli Crane. The Senate version was introduced by Hawley last week. Like Miller's House bill, it targets both farmland and residential properties, including homes, condos and land zoned for housing development. Since taking office in 2021, Miller has made foreign land ownership a focus of her work in Congress. In January 2022, she and Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, introduced the "National Security Moratorium on Foreign Purchases of U.S. Land." Hawley's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
Irish Times
7 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Galway farmer granted permission to challenge Greenway purchase decision ‘splitting' his farm
A Galway farmer has been granted permission to challenge a compulsory purchase order (CPO) made by An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) to construct a cycleway that he says would run across his land and 'split' his farm. He has claimed the route built under the Connemara Greenway Project would make his farmlands – in his family since the 1940s – 'unmanageable and landlocked'. At the High Court, lawyers for Oliver Joyce, of Emloughmore, Clifden, Co Galway, successfully applied to Ms Justice Emily Farrell to challenge the ACP's decision to grant a May 2025 compulsory purchase order (CPO) to Galway County Council relating to lands he owns at Doireliagh, Doireclunlaigh, Clifden, in Co Galway. The project aims to install a cycle and walkway going from Galway city to Clifden over 76km (47 miles) that would go through 'the backbone' of Mr Joyce's property along the old Galway-to-Clifden railway line, he claimed. READ MORE Mr Oliver has taken the challenge against ACP's decision to approve the compulsory acquisition, with Galway County Council named as a notice party. In court papers, Mr Oliver said he was conscious that his farmlands were located in a 'highly sensitive environment', which includes marshland and hilled areas that form part of the Connemara Bog Complex SAC, a conservation area. The plaintiff submitted the practice of farming the lands through generations of his family was done 'in perfect symmetry with the environment' and that he is 'very passionate and concerned about this'. Mr Oliver claimed that when the project was first proposed by the council, it was to be carried out on a permissive basis such that the council would be facilitated in accessing the lands, but the lands would remain in his ownership and open so stock could travel across both sides of the farm. He submitted that his lands have a mix of soil types and this variety was essential, in that each part is integrated and grazed with the marshy area providing water during dry periods and the hilly areas providing respite during inclement weather conditions. Mr Oliver said the project, as approved by the granting, was different from the original, in that it now envisages a wider walk and cycleway. He submitted that he was assured by the council that the lands would remain open for stock to travel and that any fencing would only be constructed when they were required by the landowner and that the application to ACP was one based on his permission. Mr Oliver claimed he understood the project to initially comprise of a 2.5m-wide (8.2ft) 'informal track of a type that one would see in the countryside', but that the more recent, larger scheme now involved a 3.5m-wide (11.5ft) asphalt track with full fencing involving 'sheep wire and barbed wire'. The plaintiff said he was 'shocked' that after an initial agreement on the scheme, Galway County Council then said they would 'accept nothing less than full ownership' and sought the CPO. Mr Oliver argued that the 'fundamental basis of the scheme has been turned on its head' by the CPO and that the decision to do so was 'taken without cause or justification'. He further claimed that environmental assessments carried out and submitted to ACP related to the original scheme and that the new elements that arose in the CPO scheme were not previously considered for environmental impact. Ms Justice Farrell granted leave for the judicial review to Michael O'Donnell BL, instructed by Harrington & Co solicitors – for Mr Oliver – and adjourned the matter to September.
