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IMPORTANCE
To compete in the world market, U.S. pork producers face significant challenges from a variety of trade barriers in foreign countries. We do not want to see these challenger compounded by unfair competition from foreign investors raising hogs in the U.S.
BACKGROUND
Of the 14.5 million foreign-owned agricultural acres, 54 percent are owned by U.S. corporations in which there is significant or substantial control by foreign investors. Forest land accounts for 49 percent of all foreign-owned acreage, cropland for 17 percent, pasture and other agricultural land for 31 percent and non-agriculture land for 3 percent. No official data or analysis exists on the extent of foreign investment in the U.S. pork industry. One example of a foreign investor is Indiana Packers Corporation, a joint venture linking Mitsubishi, ITO Ham and American investors that constructed a pork processing plant in Delphi, Ind. Products manufactured at the plant will include boneless pork, ham, bacon, sausage and by-products used in pharmaceuticals and feedstuffs. The 300,000 square foot plant employs approximately 500 people and is fully operational. The detailed records of foreign ownership of U.S. farmland are a result of Section 5 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978, which requires the Secretary of Agriculture to prepare a regular analysis of foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land.
NPPC POSITION
NPPC will continue to monitor the activities of foreign investors and evaluate the short- and long-term effects upon the future viability of the U.S. hog industry. NPPC also encourages USDA to monitor this activity, specifically as it relates to the pork industry, and to conduct a review of the issue if necessary.
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