Foreign persons held an interest in nearly 37.6 million acres of U.S. agricultural land as of Dec. 31, 2020. This is 2.9% of all privately held agricultural land and 1.7% of all land in the U.S. These and other findings are based on an analysis of reports submitted in compliance with the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978.
Idaho falls into the grouping of 0.4% to 1.6% of its agricultural land held in relation to all privately held agricultural land as of Dec. 31, 2020 (on par with Utah and Montana in the western U.S.) and less than Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico or Colorado (which falls into the grouping of 2.4% or more) and less than Wyoming (1.6 to 2.4%).
More specifically, Idaho acres break down thus:
- Total land area of state (acres) – 52,958,080
- Privately held ag land (acres) – 15,889,108
- Foreign-held agricultural land (acres) – 119,371
- Portion of foreign-held to privately held agricultural land – 0.8%
The report states that between 2019 and 2020, foreign holdings increased by 2,106 acres in Idaho.
Total acres owned by foreign investors listed by use in Idaho are: 18,258 in cropland, 31,507 in pasture, 7,807 in forest and 61,798 acres in “other ag.”
The largest foreign investors in Idaho by country are: United Kingdom (14,468 acres), Germany (12,589 acres), Canada (10,756 acres), Netherlands (1,581 acres) and all others (85, 285 acres). Power County has the largest foreign-held acreage within the state.
