Arkansas lawmaker proposes tighter limits on foreign-held farmland near critical infrastructure; debate raises dual-citizenship concerns

Representative Dean Vaught introduced House Bill 16-80 in the House committee to tighten restrictions on foreign ownership of Arkansas agricultural land, saying the state has seen a large increase in acreage held by overseas entities. "Foreign entities owned 1,597,000 acres of agriculture land in Arkansas," Vaught said, citing the most recent USDA Farm Service Agency report.

The bill would amend 2023 legislation (Act 636) to ban Chinese Communist Party–linked companies from holding any interest in agricultural land within a 10-mile radius of defined critical infrastructure and to bar prohibited foreign-party-controlled businesses from leasing land in the state. It would also shorten the divestment period for prohibited foreign-party-controlled businesses from two years to one year and expand the definition of agricultural land to include property inside municipal…