b'Arkansas Forces Land Sale: Necessary or Knee-Jerk?More than 20 U.S. states are saying no to (some) foreign land ownership. In the case of 160 acres long-held by Syngenta, the decision could carry hidden costs to farmers. Aimee NielsonARKANSAS RECENTLY ORDEREDNorthrup King SeedWe work with these people, he says. They are our friends. Co., a subsidiary of Chinese-owned Syngenta, to sell 160A lot of local people cut their teeth in the agriculture industry at acres of farmland in Arkansas. The state went further and finedthis research station. the global seed enterprise nearly $300,000 for failing to fileGoing back a bit to when the research station began, papers about its land holdings in a timely manner. This all comesNorthrup King was an American-owned company that began in on the heels of recent legislation in Arkansas and more than 20Minnesota in 1884. In 1973, Northrup King celebrated 50 years of other states, aiming to limit foreign-owned land. According toproducing and marketing hybrid seed corn in the United States. the states that are enacting the legislation, most of the legisla- Three years later, Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Sandoz tion is in response to national security concerns.purchased the seed company but kept the Northrup King brand. Syngenta argues that their Arkansas employees areIn 1996, Sandoz merged with Ciba, which resulted in a merger Americans, working at an American-led company, who deeplybetween Northrup King and Ciba Seeds to become Novartis care about serving Arkansas farmers. Seeds, representing hybrid corn and oilseeds worldwide. A This action hurts Arkansas farmers more than anyone else,few years later, Novartis and AstraZeneca merged to create said Justin Wolfe, president, Syngenta Seeds. Syngenta is disap- Syngenta AG. Then in 2016, ChemChina acquired Syngenta, in a pointed by the announcement. The order for Syngenta to divestmove to overhaul Chinese agriculture. itself of 160 acres of agricultural land in Craighead County, whichWhile the lands ownership may be foreign, the lands value to the company has owned since 1988, is a shortsighted action thatfarmers is much closer to home. Eaton says the 160-acre soy-fails to account for the effects of such an action, intended or not,bean research station produces results local and regional farm-on the U.S. agricultural market. ers rely on to make their enterprises more efficient. While 160 Marty Eaton, general manager for Arkansas Cache Riveracres may sound like a large plot of land to the average non-agri-Valley Seed LLC in Cash, Arkansas, sees the situation from bothcultural person, he says the fact that the average American farm sides. He is aware that most people generally dont want Chinais 2,500 acres, puts the acreage into a realistic perspective. He owning land in the United States and understands that senti- says the Craighead County land is one little piece of land that has ment. But he says the local situation with Syngenta is not so cutdone a lot of good for Mid-South farmers for the past 35 years. and dried. 22/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2023'