A new report shows foreign individuals or investors owned about 5% of Oklahoma land in 2024.
Of the state's 44 million acres, more than 42 million are privately-held agricultural land. Of that, foreign investors owned about 2 million acres in 2024 — nearly a 198,000-acre increase from the previous year.
Oklahoma's year-to-year increase is one of the biggest hikes among the states, according to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Holdings of U.S. Agricultural Land report.
Canadian investors held most of that acreage in 2024 with about 1,093,000. Italian investors followed with about 596,000.
Smithfield Foods is the only Chinese investor listed in the report as owning agricultural land in Oklahoma. Its properties are in the northwestern part of the state.
State lawmakers have focused on limiting Chinese investors buying land in recent years. This year, proposed bills in the Oklahoma legislature are aiming to restrict land ownership for foreign entities and non-citizen residents.
State law has limited who can own property in the state for decades.
Nationally, the USDA launched a new portal to report transactions involving foreign investors, which is part of the National Farm Security Action Plan released last year.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
