Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, defends a farmland ownership bill in the Senate Chamber on Monday, March 4. Indiana Capital Chronicle photo by Whitney Downard.

By Whitney Downard
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — As a bill protecting farmland from foreign adversaries heads to the finish line, economic development concerns are cropping up at the last minute.

Senate sponsors on Monday pushed back against exemptions for a specific agricultural project in northern Indiana, noting that 11 Chinese companies are currently seeking projects within Indiana.

House Bill 1183 was amended slightly to incorporate concerns about dual citizens and restrictions around military installations.

“I have to strongly oppose (the exception for northern Indiana) because it would create an exemption for what could be a homeland security risk … I don’t think it’s good for all of us in Indiana,” said Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg. “It’s hard for me to fight against another opportunity for agriculture, but I think we have to go with a statewide view of what’s good.”

Even gubernatorial candidates weighed in on the race, with Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch urging senators to adopt the language.

“As Secretary of Agriculture, I urge the Senate to pass HB 1183 to prohibit foreign adversaries from buying our farmland and land near military bases. China can buy our crops, not our farmland. We must act to protect our national security and agricultural freedom,” Crouch’s campaign said in a statement.

Crouch is competing against five other contenders for the Republican nomination to succeed Gov. Eric Holcomb as governor. Several other contenders have been vocal about their opposition to China.

Underlying Farmland Bill

House Bill 1183 would prohibit entities or people from six “adversarial countries” — a list that the U.S. Department of Commerce defines as Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela — from owning or leasing Hoosier farmland along with mineral, riparian or water rights.

Those same groups would also not be permitted to purchase, lease or acquire land within ten miles of a military installation. The Indiana Attorney General would be empowered to act on suspected violations.

After passing out of the House unanimously, senators in committee opted to allow an exemption for renewals made before July 1, so long as the acreage doesn’t change, to accommodate an existing Switzerland-based agrichemical company acquired by ChemChina in 2017.

Discussion on the Senate floor revolved around an exemption for a proposed project in northern Indiana but Leising, the bill’s sponsor, rejected the amendment. She noted that the Indiana Economic Development Corporation “is in negotiations with 11 Chinese companies, many of them in strategic locations.”

Senators opted to adopt two changes, one allowing dual citizens to own land — of the six countries, the United States only has dual citizenship with Russia — as well as reaffirming the 10-mile radius, rather than the previously proposed 50-mile radius, around military installations.

Votes on all four amendments — the two adopted and the two failed motions — were voice votes, meaning there’s no record of how each individual senator voted.

Author Rep. Kendall Culp, R-Rensselaer, spoke to the Indiana Capital Chronicle before the Senate discussed amendments. He expressed concerns about adding too many specific exemptions but acknowledged the need to clarify ownership prohibitions in terms of dual citizens or green card holders.

“I think we need to be careful that we don’t have too many carve-outs of the legislation or it’s going to obviously weaken it,” Culp said.

Culp said he and Leising met with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and other interested parties just over two weeks ago to discuss the implications of the proposal on economic development deals.

“… I know they have some concern that they are dealing with foreign adversaries wanting to locate to Indiana. And that’s, in all honesty, part of the issue (and) why we have the bill. ‘Do you want foreign adversaries here and, if so, how many?’” Culp said. “Obviously the IEDC is charged with spurring economic development in Indiana and creating jobs and that’s what their focus is.”

“The focus of this bill is to be a little more selective about who we allow into Indiana to do business,” he continued.

Economic Development Spurs Pushback

Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, said that an adopted amendment reducing the buffer zone around military installations from 50 miles to 10 miles still doesn’t allow a proposed Chinese-owned agricultural project in LaPorte County. He proposed an amendment that would allow a local unit of government to supersede the bill by adopting an ordinance.

“Adopting this (bill), as you know, would ultimately kill what is potentially a great project and a number of jobs,” Pol said.

The Chinese company trying to locate to Kingsbury, Fufeng Group, was recently prevented from building an agricultural processing plant 12 miles from the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. Resident outcry prompted a federal review, which came out against Fufeng ownership and pushed the Grand Forks City Council to abandon the project, as reported by the North Dakota Monitor.

Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, voiced his support for the amendment, saying farmers would now have a nearby market for their corn, rather than driving to Logansport or Lafayette.

“My concern, though, is statewide. To not allow the locals an exception to be able to determine their own financial future with the investment they’ve made in their industrial parks,” Bohacek said. “This kind of thing can happen to your communities — it’s just mine today.”

He said his county has spent over $15 million on rail construction and upgrades to support the project.

Leising said Pol’s amendment would allow counties to have an impact on state and federal security policy.

“(Fufeng) is very strategic on where they want to locate,” Leising said, noting that the company says it chose the Kingsbury site because of two nearby intersecting railways. “There’s no doubt that farmers in northern Indiana would benefit from another location to deliver grain but we have to weigh the benefits of homeland security, safety … with the opportunity for economic development.”

In response, Bohacek said Fufeng was interested in LaPorte County because they were a “grain surplus area.” He also said the military installation was a “weekend-staffed National Guard base” 9.7 miles away from the industrial park.

The bill now moves to third reading; the deadline for that is Tuesday in the Senate. Afterward, it returns to the House, which can either accept or reject the changes made by the Senate.

See the original story here.