Beef and land
As of January 2024, the United States has an estimated cattle inventory of approximately 87.2 million head. This figure represents a decrease of about 2% from the previous year oai_citation:1,United States cattle inventory down 2%. If you’re interested in more detailed statistics or specific categories within the cattle inventory, you can find the full report on the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service website oai_citation:2,www.nass.usda.gov.
Foreign ownership?
As of 2021, Chinese entities and investors own approximately 383,934 acres of U.S. land. This figure represents a small fraction of the total foreign-owned land in the United States. To put it into perspective, foreign entities overall own just over 3% of all privately held agricultural land in the U.S., which amounts to around 40 million acres. Among the foreign investors, Canada owns the largest share.
More than 80% of the Chinese-owned land in the U.S. is held by Smithfield Foods and a billionaire named Sun Guangxin through his companies. Smithfield Foods, a large meatpacker in the U.S., was acquired by the Chinese pork company WH Group in 2013. Sun Guangxin owns significant acreage in Texas, which he acquired for a wind farm project that was eventually halted by state law.
While Chinese-owned land constitutes less than 1% of the farmland in any given state where purchases have been made, the issue of foreign land ownership, particularly by Chinese entities, has drawn considerable attention and concern due to geopolitical tensions and the strategic implications of such ownership oai_citation:1,China owns 380,000 acres of land in the U.S. Here’s where | KPBS Public Media oai_citation:2,China owns 380,000 acres of land in the U.S. Here’s where | WUSF .