NORTH DAKOTA (KXNET) — When it comes to our farmland, the big questions have always been: Who can own our land? And who should we be doing business with?

North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer says land is a finite resource — we can’t make more land in North Dakota.

In terms of using the land for agriculture, Cramer says no one does it safer, cleaner, or better than we do in North Dakota.

“I think it’s the most noble enterprise that we have in the sense that we feed hungry people and that when you’re feeding hungry people around the world in addition to your own, you’re also affecting the geopolitics of the world. You’re doing noble work, you’re creating relationships where if you’re not there, somebody else creates them,” said Cramer. 

In light of this and other factors, Cramer says North Dakotan should be very guarded with how the land is used and who gets to use it.

He says turning too much farmland over to foreign entities, regardless of whether it’s China or someplace else, diminishes our ability to have that very important finite tool in the hands of American investors. 

“We should not be able to and we should not sell any land to the People’s Republic of China or anybody that’s closely associated with the Chinese Communist Party,” Cramer stated. “Because food, while we want to use it for good and for geopolitical purposes, first and foremost, it’s a very precious commodity and it’s a critical supply chain. If we ever lose that supply chain for our own use, we make ourselves and our own citizens much more vulnerable, much like with other things like critical minerals and pharmaceuticals, you know, ingredients and whatnot.”

Cramer adds much of our economy is based on the premise that your land is your land, and you can do what you want with it — within the parameters of good business relations and zoning laws.