SB 348

This bill generally prohibits certain foreign persons from acquiring more than

50 acres of agricultural or forestry land in this state, changes enforcement authority

regarding foreign ownership of agricultural or forestry land from the attorney

general to the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and

makes various other changes to state laws restricting ownership of agricultural or

forestry land by foreign persons.

Type of land subject to limitation

Current law generally prohibits certain foreign persons from acquiring,

owning, or holding more than 640 acres of land in this state. However, that limitation

does not apply to any of the following activities:

1. An exploration mining lease and land used for certain mining and associated

activities.

2. Certain manufacturing activities.

3. Certain mercantile activities.

4. A lease for exploration or production of oil, gas, coal, shale, and related

hydrocarbons, including by-products of the production, and land used in connection

with the exploration or production.

Those exceptions have been interpreted to be “extremely broad, embracing

almost every conceivable business activity [other than a]ctivities relating to

agriculture and forestry.” See Wis. Op. Att'y Gen. OAG 11-14, ¶5, available at

https://www.doj.state.wi.us. In other words, under current law, foreign persons may

acquire, own, and hold unlimited amounts of land for most nonagricultural and

nonforestry purposes, but certain foreign persons may not acquire, own, or hold more

than 640 acres of land for agricultural or forestry purposes.

The bill eliminates the four exceptions enumerated under current law and

instead provides that the limitation on foreign ownership of land applies only to land

that is classified, for property tax purposes, as agricultural, agricultural forest, or

productive forest land (agricultural or forestry land).

Amount of land foreign persons may acquire

The bill reduces the maximum amount of agricultural or forestry land that

certain foreign persons may acquire, own, or hold from 640 acres to 50 acres (acreage

limit).

Covered foreign persons

Under current law, the following persons generally are subject to the acreage

limit:

1. An alien not a resident of a state of the United States (nonresident alien).

2. A corporation that is not created under federal law or the laws of any state

(foreign entity).

3. A corporation, limited liability company, partnership, or association having

more than 20 percent of its stock, securities, or other indicia of ownership held or