Michigan has lost nearly 100,000 acres of farmland in one year. That’s about one acre every five minutes, according to MLive. Big farms are currently thriving while small and midsize farming operations are disappearing. But who is buying all this land? And what is it being used for? Questions that many Michiganders are wanting answers to or are just now wondering about.

86% of Michigan’s farmland has been lost between 2001 and 2021 and has since been converted into housing developments near major cities such as Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Grand Rapids, according to researchers. Farms are becoming subdivisions, condos, and apartment complexes. This raises concerns because once farmland is paved over, it is almost impossible for it to become farmland again. Farmers across Michigan are feeling the pressure to sell their land due to the increase in value of agricultural land. Farmland prices have jumped from around $5,000 per acre to nearly $7,000 per acre and sometimes up to $19,000 per acre. Young and old farmers are getting priced out or feeling heightened pressure to sell land to developers, solar and wind companies, and data centers.

In addition to development, investment funds now control more than 1 million acres of U.S. farmland. Farmland is not just a plot of gold dirt anymore, it’s a portfolio asset. Michigan does still have about 9.4 million acres of farmland and we are not running out anytime soon, but this still has Michiganders concerned. With less small-scale farms, rural communities are changing. And again, I raise the question, who is buying and investing in the land? The answer may surprise you. In research done by MLive, foreign investments into Michigan agricultural land has dramatically increased. Singapore linked investors now own around 5% of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. 90% of the foreign owned land is forests and timberland in the Upper Peninsula. These numbers keep climbing and foreign owned land in Michigan has nearly doubled since 2014. Some lawmakers are raising concerns about foreign land ownership while other say it’s no big deal.

The largest investors are Singapore, Japan, Canada, and The Netherlands. Bridge Michigan traced Singapore’s ownership through layers of LLCs and complex ownership structures to two firms, Verdant Timber and Sage Timber. Together they own nearly 540,000 acres in the UP. Japanese investment firms own around 67,000 acres. Canada and The Netherlands own about 800,000 acres combined. So why are they investing in forests? You may ask. Well, forests are a long-term investment and a climate solution. Foreign countries are buying up land as long-term timber and carbon capture investments, and it’s working. As mentioned previously, Michigan agricultural land value has risen 34% in just the last five years.

The good news is that most foreign owned land in Michigan is owned by countries that the U.S. is allied with. The Michigan House passed bills last year to block countries like China, Russia, and Iran from owning Michigan agriculture land and also require all foreign owned land to be registered with the state. So, who benefits when foreign investors drive up land values? What happens to public access when private firms buy massive areas of land? And why is it so difficult to trace who actually owns it? Land in Michigan is not just an investment. Our land is tied to our identity, our history, our economy and our future and it is up to us to decide who really should own our land.