Fact Finders: Did Eric Schmitt vote twice to sell Missouri farmland to foreigners?

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - We’re less than two weeks away from the mid-term elections. One of the political ads in high-rotation is one from Trudy Busch Valentine. Our viewer Mike wants to know, if Eric Schmitt is the Attorney General of the state, how could he have voted to sell farmland to China? Is this true?

(Editors Note: Mike’s question has been edited for clarity. Here’s the original question: She claim Eric Schmitt voted to sell China Missouri land, but it has come to my attention that the only ones who vote are Representatives and Senators with the Lieutenant Governor being the President of Congress, so he could not have voted.)

The ad focuses on Senate Bill 9 from the 97th General Assembly in 2013. It allowed foreign business ownership of agricultural land in Missouri. It stated the ownership should not exceed one percent. At the time, Eric Schmitt served as a state senator representing part of St. Louis County. According to state records, Schmitt voted in May 2013 to approve the legislation. Then, he voted to override the Democratic governor’s veto of the bill in September 2013.

The ad is crafted to hit the long-running hot-button issue of mistrust between the U.S. and China.

“Like a boxing match, where if you’re behind in the late rounds, you know, you just come out throwing haymakers and hope that something lands, you know,” commented Professor of Political Science at Drury University Dan Ponder. ”There is quite a bit of truth to that particular ad.”

The legislation did not say farmland could or should be sold to China. But, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Shanghai-based company owns a majority of the foreign-owned farmland in Missouri.

And the USDA says foreign ownership of Missouri farmland exceeds the 1% limit. It’s now at 1.1%. According to the government map, foreign ownership includes up to 10 thousand acres in Taney County and up to 2-thousand acres in several other southwest Missouri counties.

Coming back to the viewer’s question, if Eric Schmitt is the Attorney General of the state, how could he have voted to sell farmland to China? Is this true?

It’s true. Eric Schmitt voted twice to approve the sale of farmland to foreign businesses. We’ll rate this true. But we want to point out that he did not explicitly vote to sell farmland to Chinese businesses.

We looked at an Eric Schmitt ad last week on Fact Finders, if you missed it.

Investigate TV also looked at the issue of foreign ownership of farmland this year. They reported, “The latest government data shows foreign investors hold interest in more than 35 million acres of American farm and forest land, but we found that data is flawed, so the number may be even higher.”

And, if you have something you want us to investigate, email us at factfinders@ky3.com

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com

Copyright 2022 KY3. All rights reserved.