Foreign Ownership of U.S. Food and Agricultural Assets topic of latest ARNSF

The CGSC Foundation’s Simons Center hosted an Arter-Rowland National Security Forum (ARNSF) luncheon event on Dec. 1, 2022, at the Carriage Club in Kansas City.

Simons Center Director Bob Ulin welcomed the ARNSF members, some of whom also introduced their guests, and then introduced the guest speaker.

(Top photo and above) Dr. Allen M. Featherstone, professor and head of Kansas State University’s Agricultural Economics Department, delivers a presentation entitled “Foreign Ownership of U.S. Food and Agricultural Assets” to members of the Arter-Rowland National Security Forum at a luncheon event on Dec. 1, 2022, at the Carriage Club in Kansas City.

In this presentation of the Forum, Dr. Allen M. Featherstone, professor and head of Kansas State University’s Agricultural Economics Department, delivered a presentation entitled “Foreign Ownership of U.S. Food and Agricultural Assets.” He presented in some detail, with a focus on China, the foreign ownership of agricultural land and how that has changed from previous years. In addition, Featherstone also provided information on Chinese ownership of food and agriculturally-related corporations that support U.S. agricultural production and how the foreign control of key aspects of the U.S. food supply chain can have potential impacts on U.S. food security.

Featherstone is a professor and head of the Agricultural Economics Department at Kansas State University. An alumnus of Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Featherstone was appointed at Kansas State in 1986 and named as the department head in June 2014. His primary responsibilities have been teaching and research with primary areas of emphasis in finance and production economics. As a leading agriculture finance scholar, he has studied land markets, investment decisions, mergers in the financial services industry, the probability of agricultural loan default and loan loss severity, the influence of taxes on farmland, and alternative federal tax systems. Featherstone’s research has been reported on in lay publications such as DTN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Economist, Bloomberg, Farm Journal, and Successful Farming.

After the presentation and a question and answer period, Ulin presented Featherstone with a new CGSC Foundation/Simons Center coffee mug and Simons Center coin in appreciation for his time with the Forum. Ulin closed out the luncheon with a short brief about the schedule for future gatherings of the Forum.

For more photos see the CGSC Foundation Flickr album

The Arter-Rowland National Security Forum (ARNSF) is led by the CGSC Foundation’s Simons Center and is an exclusive professional information sharing and networking forum for senior executives.

Members of the Forum and their guests meet periodically at guest speaker events in downtown Kansas City. National and regional guest speakers representing all elements of national power (Diplomatic, Informational, Military and Economic) highlight the meetings. The Forum is nonpartisan, but elected government officials may present from time to time.

The Forum is named after Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Arter, Founding Chairman of the CGSC Foundation, and Mr. Landon Rowland, the Foundation’s first major donor who was well-known in Kansas City for his keen interest in national security issues and his leadership in business and philanthropy.

ARNSF events are only open to ARNSF members and their guests. If you are not a member but are interested in joining, contact Bob Ulin at rulin@cgscf.org or visit the Forum page on the Simons Center website for more information.