ST. LOUIS (KMOX)- Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced Monday he has signed an executive order banning the sale of certain lands to foreign adversaries.
Gov. Parson's executive order prevents countries like China and other adversaries from purchasing farm land within ten miles of a military facility in Missouri.
Parson says he wishes he could go even further with his executive order but this is as far as he was allowed to go.
"Believe me, if I had the authority, we wouldn't just be talking about farmland," said Parson.
Parson say he wished he could've issued a ban on all commercial properties to countries deemed foreign adversaries by the U.S.
Governor Parson says he isn't aware of any current foreign adversarial ownership of land near any facilities but wants to be proactive.
Currently, six countries are deemed foreign adversaries of the United States: China, Cuba, Iran, Russia, Venezuela and North Korea.
Of those six countries, China has the most land in the state of Missouri owning 42,000 acres in Missouri according to the Missouri Department of Agriculture.
The executive order by Parson is the latest move made in an attempt to curtail foreign ownership of land in the state. Last legislative session, Missouri House passed a bill which included banning China, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela from owning farmland, and having no more than 0.5 percent of state's farmland could be owned by a foreign government or company.
However the efforts stalled during the Senate Chamber. House and Senate negotiators were working on a deal, but time ran out before they could get to final votes.
