DYSART, Iowa (NewsNation) — China is accused of stealing patented seeds from Iowa farms as part of that nation’s alleged interference in U.S. agricultural advances.
A bipartisan House Select Committee held a roundtable event in Iowa Thursday to discuss. Members spoke with farmers and local stakeholders who say the Chinese communist party is sending people to their community to take valuable genetically modified seeds which are designed to grow the best produce possible.
Balancing a trade relationship with China and safeguarding national security create a complex challenge for U.S. lawmakers who are set to address instances of the CCP appropriating agricultural technology and outline measures for accountability. Chinese businesses have purchased U.S. farmlands in North Dakota, California, and Michigan, which many lawmakers deem a significant national security concern.
Farmers like Louie Zumbach told NewsNation that such tactics negatively affect people like him.
Five generations of Zumbach’s family have worked on their Iowa farm, but they face a new concern they’ve never faced before: rights to their agricultural technology from the Chinese Communist Party.
“Every farmer that plants a seed that has been genetically modified is paying a tech fee,” Zumbach said. “So, when they steal that and they use all that technology for nothing they are stealing from every Iowa farmer and every farmer in America that’s using that type of technology.”
Chinese investors own about .03 percent of America’s farmland, according to federal data. But their land purchasing is becoming a major issue as politicians at the state and federal level ramp up their fight against perceived threats from China.
“I suppose if they get enough ground, then they will be able to really manipulate the market,” Zumbach said. “I don’t know what their endgame is other than to be in complete control.”
In the past couple of months, lawmakers in more than two dozen states have passed or considered legislation restricting Chinese purchases of U.S. farmland.