China Is Coming For America’s Farms And Food…

[Ingomike]

China is Coming for American Farms

China is slowly but surely gaining control of parts of the American food supply.

www.newsweek.com

 

[rhamersley]

They actually allowed this article to be published in "Newsweak"?

 

[phylodog]

As with most things, we'll ignore it until it's too far gone to be remedied. China Joe sure won't be doing anything about it.

 

[AtTheMurph]

They actually allowed this article to be published in "Newsweak"?

Because they are part of the conspiracy to create the new boogie man to fight against. Russia went by the wayside. They need a new adversary so that we spend trillions more on unnecessary military junk, wars, bases, AND SURVEILLANCE.

You know, to "Keep Us Safe."

 

[BE Mike]

Because they are part of the conspiracy to create the new boogie man to fight against. Russia went by the wayside. They need a new adversary so that we spend trillions more on unnecessary military junk, wars, bases, AND SURVEILLANCE.

You know, to "Keep Us Safe."

Yeah, it is much better to negotiate from a position of weakness than a position of strength.

 

[Ingomike]

Because they are part of the conspiracy to create the new boogie man to fight against. Russia went by the wayside. They need a new adversary so that we spend trillions more on unnecessary military junk, wars, bases, AND SURVEILLANCE.

You know, to "Keep Us Safe."

So you think it good that china owns all that and processing as well?

 

[Thor]

It's not just that, it's wind farms throughout the country that have com links back to the ChiComs. They've been trying to build them in our training airspace and by our air defense bases. It's every ChiCom built UAV that people buy that phones home every time they fly with high resolution video images of where they are...the cheapest most high res surveillance images you can buy (or have us pay for). Students in our universities that siphon off our intellectual knowledge and a host of other ways that they are trying to undermine the free world.

Yeah, they are trying to buy us as a way to enslave us and rule the world.

The ChiComs are our enemies and we do ourselves a disservice to forget that in every dealing with a current Chinese entity who are all wholly owned by the ChiCom party.

 

[76Too]

Why we would allow any foreign entity to purchase land in the US is beyond me. It should be illegal. Period.

 

[Ingomike]

It's not just that, it's wind farms throughout the country that have com links back to the ChiComs. They've been trying to build them in our training airspace and by our air defense bases. It's every ChiCom built UAV that people buy that phones home every time they fly with high resolution video images of where they are...the cheapest most high res surveillance images you can buy (or have us pay for). Students in our universities that siphon off our intellectual knowledge and a host of other ways that they are trying to undermine the free world.

Yeah, they are trying to buy us as a way to enslave us and rule the world.

The ChiComs are our enemies and we do ourselves a disservice to forget that in every dealing with a current Chinese entity who are all wholly owned by the ChiCom party.

They are attacking on more fronts than we can track.

 

[phylodog]

The only question that remains is how much resistance there will be when they show up to actually take ownership of what they've purchased. There ain't no puttin this genie back in the bottle.

 

[KittySlayer]

Selling the Family Farm... the legacy is gone.

This is yet another Unintended Consequence brought on by the (failed) policies of Democrats.

A long time ago, in a field far, far away the family farm stayed in the family. Mom and dad would die and the kids would inherit the family farm and continue the family legacy of farming and providing food for our country.

But in the Democrats never ending lust for tax money and their zeal to Tax the Rich they have made it impossible to pass on the family farm because of the Estate (death) Taxes. Now when Farmer Dad dies there is Estate Tax due to the IRS and since all the value is in the farmland there is no money available to write the big check. So the kids have to sell off acres of the farmland to be able to pay off the government.

And China simply shows up with their checkbook and buys up the farm.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Why we would allow any foreign entity to purchase land in the US is beyond me. It should be illegal. Period.

I suppose because you can't take it back home with you and there are multiple ways to reclaim it if it becomes problematic. Do we want to turn away foreign companies that build factories here, provide jobs here, etc? Probably not. Then you have questions like is "Honda USA LLC" a foreign entity? For that matter, is a Dodge factory a foreign entity now since a European company owns the brand? What about foreign companies with major US investors?

I'm not saying it couldn't be overcame, but I think you'd just create more beaucracy, incentive for corruption, and not solve the issue. The simpler answer remains let them buy, let the invest, then use sanctions to reclaim the land if they become problematic.

 

[Ingomike]

And China simply shows up with their checkbook and buys up the farm.

A checkbook filled by sending junk trinkets to the US in exchange for the dollars they fill it with.

 

[Ingomike]

I suppose because you can't take it back home with you and there are multiple ways to reclaim it if it becomes problematic. Do we want to turn away foreign companies that build factories here, provide jobs here, etc? Probably not. Then you have questions like is "Honda USA LLC" a foreign entity? For that matter, is a Dodge factory a foreign entity now since a European company owns the brand? What about foreign companies with major US investors?

I'm not saying it couldn't be overcame, but I think you'd just create more beaucracy, incentive for corruption, and not solve the issue. The simpler answer remains let them buy, let the invest, then use sanctions to reclaim the land if they become problematic.

How do you solve the issue of Smithfield exporting meat to China when there is a shortage here?

 

[76Too]

How do you solve the issue of Smithfield exporting meat to China when there is a shortage here?

100% this...I’ve stopped buying Smithfield products intentionally and have toyed with the idea of making my own warning signs to hang up next to their products at Kroger...but I might get embarrassed being kicked out of a supermarket.

 

[KittySlayer]

How do you solve the issue of Smithfield exporting meat to China when there is a shortage here?

A shortage and high prices are not the end of the world (yet).

When the right people with power and their families start starving the outgoing overseas shipments will stop, regardless of whose name is on the property title.

Food is Power.

 

[Ingomike]

A shortage and high prices are not the end of the world (yet).

When the right people with power and their families start starving the outgoing overseas shipments will stop, regardless of whose name is on the property title.

Food is Power.

Just like the senate will save us.

 

[AtTheMurph]

Yeah, it is much better to negotiate from a position of weakness than a position of strength.

Negotiate what exactly?

 

[AtTheMurph]

So you think it good that china owns all that and processing as well?

If it is in the USA then what are you worried about. Do you think China is going to move the farm land to China? Are they going to pack up the processing plants and move them?

The US will do exactly what the Chinese would do if they have to - simply take those assets back and give the Chinese the middle finger. But that will never happen because it won't have to happen.

 

[ghuns]

...But in the Democrats never ending lust for tax money and their zeal to Tax the Rich they have made it impossible to pass on the family farm because of the Estate (death) Taxes. Now when Farmer Dad dies there is Estate Tax due to the IRS and since all the value is in the farmland there is no money available to write the big check. So the kids have to sell off acres of the farmland to be able to pay off the government...

This is not so much the case anymore.

Back when my grandpa died in '95, the estate tax exemption was $600K. Even with his relatively small 200 acre farm, it took some arm twisting by the lawyer on the appraiser to get the estate to come in under that.

At that time my dad's cousin who farmed for us took out a large life insurance policy on his dad, who owned a couple thousand acres, to cover the taxes in the event of his dad's death. Land was around $3K/acre back then. So his 2000 acres would've been worth $6 millionish. Minus the $600K deduction, he'd have to pay tax on $5.4 million. The top rate back then was 55%, so he'd have faced a bill from the IRS for almost $3 million. Luckily, his dad is still alive and kickin and the exemption was raised in the following years and the top rate dropped.

For 2022 the estate tax exemption is $12.06 million. With land prices now around $7K/acre, that same farm is worth $14 million, leaving them a potential tax bill on the $2 million difference. If they took zero steps to lessen that, and got hit with the highest rate of 40%, they'd face an $800K bill from Uncle Sam. Not great, but that's what estate planning lawyers is for. And it's certainly easier to deal with than the potential $3 million in taxes from back in the mid 90s.

This is not a defense of death taxes, they're bulls**t. But their impact on family farms is greatly exaggerated.

All that said, in 2025, if no action is taken, the estate tax exemption is set to drop back down to $5 million. That would suck hard.