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South DakotaSB 40101st South Dakota Legislature (2026)Senate

revise the compliance requirements for limitations on foreign ownership of agricultural land.

Sponsored By: Sponsor information unavailable

Signed by Governor

Agricultural LandCivil ForfeitureExecutive/Judiciary RequestPenaltyPropertyForeign Persons

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

3 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 2 costs, 1 mixed.

Foreign farmland investors must file state reports

Anyone required to report foreign agricultural investments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture must also file a state copy. It goes to South Dakota's Agriculture and Natural Resources secretary by the federal deadline, using federal reporting law as of January 1, 2026. Failure to file can bring a penalty of up to 10% of the land interest's fair market value on the assessment date. Collected penalties go to the state general fund. The attorney general can sue to collect in the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in Pierre or a county containing any portion of the land.

Foreign owners face South Dakota farmland limits

Prohibited entities cannot own South Dakota farmland, and their leases and easements are barred except for two lease exceptions. Research leases must be exclusively for agricultural research and cover no more than 320 acres. Livestock leases must be exclusively for contract feeding at an animal feeding operation by a family farm unit, family farm corporation, or authorized farm corporation. Other foreign entities, governments, and people face a 160-acre ownership cap, excluding land held as security for debt. Their leases have no acreage limit, and their easements are unrestricted; treaty-secured landholding rights remain exempt.

Farmland penalties include protections for co-owners

Farmland owned illegally is forfeited to South Dakota; a prohibited entity's illegal lease or easement is terminated. A violating minority owner who inherited an interest loses that share and owes an additional penalty equal to its fair market value. The attorney general enforces these rules and must bring the case within three years after evidence is referred. Any forfeited fractional share must first be offered to other equitable owners at fair market value, determined by appraisal or twice the land's assessed taxable value. A former owner's foreign status alone does not invalidate the current title or make the land subject to forfeiture.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsors

There is no primary sponsor on record.

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 113 • No: 2

House vote • 3/4/2026

Do Pass

Yes: 65 • No: 2

House vote • 3/3/2026

Do Pass

Yes: 9 • No: 0

Senate vote • 1/16/2026

Do Pass

Yes: 32 • No: 0

Senate vote • 1/15/2026

Do Pass

Yes: 7 • No: 0

Actions Timeline

  1. Signed by the Governor

    3/12/2026Senate

  2. Delivered to the Governor

    3/10/2026Senate

  3. Signed by the Speaker

    3/9/2026House

  4. Signed by the President

    3/5/2026Senate

  5. Do Pass

    3/4/2026House

  6. Do Pass

    3/3/2026House

  7. Scheduled for hearing

    3/3/2026House

  8. First read in House and referred to

    1/20/2026House

  9. Do Pass

    1/16/2026Senate

  10. Certified uncontested, placed on consent

    1/15/2026Senate

  11. Do Pass

    1/15/2026Senate

  12. Scheduled for hearing

    1/15/2026Senate

  13. First read in Senate and referred to

    1/13/2026Senate

Bill Text

  • Introduced

    1/6/2026

    PDF

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