Which Foreign Countries Own the Most Land in Missouri?

We don’t think of foreign countries having ownership of land within our sovereign nation, but many do. In Missouri. The Show-Me State has a law in place that limits foreign ownership of farmland in the state to 1% total. Currently foreign countries own over 0.50%.

The foreign country with the most land owned in Missouri is China. China owns over 42,000 acres of Missouri land. Canada is next on the list with less than 20,000 acres. But other countries like Belgium, Argentina, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand and others have obtained land of various acreage in Missouri too.

Concerns about foreign land purchases near military facilities and assets prompted previous Missouri Governor Mike Parson in 2024 to issue an executive order that prohibits specific foreign countries from owning land with 10 miles of military installations.  Those countries are China, North Korea, Cuba and Russia.

Missouri ranks 35^th in the United States for land owned by foreign countries, but 16^th for farmland acreage owned by foreign countries.  Dade County northwest of Springfield is the county in Missouri with the most acreage owned by foreign countries.

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In many cases these tracts of land are owned by businesses from those foreign countries. Some for energy (wind and solar) development, others for livestock (swine) or farming.