Indiana passed a foreign ownership law in the spring, it took effect July 1, and the coverage was broad enough that owners with no connection to any of it started calling their brokers.
If you’re a German, Dutch, British, or other European owner of Indiana farmland, the short version is that the prohibition provisions aren’t aimed at you. For most owners that’s also the long version. Here’s why.
The restrictions target six designated countries
Indiana’s restrictions run against people and entities connected to countries the federal government designates as foreign adversaries. That designation currently covers China, Russia, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela.
European owners are not on that list. No European country is on that list.
The list isn’t Indiana’s. It comes from a federal designation, which means the state legislature didn’t sit down and pick countries. It adopted a list that already existed for other purposes. That’s worth knowing, because it tells you what the law is actually about, and it isn’t about foreign capital in agriculture generally.
This has been building since 2022
Indiana has restricted certain foreign ownership of agricultural land since 2022, and the legislature has returned to the subject twice since.
The 2024 legislation, House Enrolled Act 1183, extended the agricultural restrictions and added provisions covering property near military installations.
The 2026 legislation, Senate Enrolled Act 256, took effect July 1, 2026, and extended Indiana’s foreign adversary restrictions to residential and commercial real property. Agricultural land was already covered by the earlier legislation.
That last point is the one that got lost in the coverage. The July law was not the moment Indiana restricted foreign ownership of farmland. That happened earlier. The July law broadened the same framework to other kinds of property, and it added enforcement.
What changed in July
The 2026 act gave the Indiana Attorney General investigative and divestiture authority. It carries exemptions, including for lawful permanent residents and for people who obtained the property before it took effect.
Enforcement authority is why the story traveled. A law that restricts and a law that restricts with a state officer who can investigate and force a sale read very differently in a headline, even when the underlying prohibition hasn’t moved for the person reading it.
Where it does get complicated
The short answer above covers individual European owners holding land directly. It does not cover every structure.
An entity with a controlling person in a designated country is treated differently from an individual. If your interest sits inside a fund, a partnership, or a chain of entities, that’s an analysis, not a yes or no. It’s worth having done properly once by a lawyer so you can stop wondering about it every time a bill moves through the statehouse.
We say the same thing to American owners with complicated structures. The complexity isn’t about being foreign. It’s about the chain of ownership being longer than one line on a deed.
Questions we get
Can a European citizen buy Indiana farmland?
The Indiana restrictions target countries on the federal foreign adversary designation, and no European country is among them. Confirm your specific situation with an attorney, particularly if an entity is involved.
I already own Indiana land and I’m not a U.S. citizen. Do I have to sell?
Nothing in this post suggests you do. The 2026 act carries exemptions, including for property obtained before it took effect. If you have any connection to a designated country, that’s a question for a lawyer now rather than later.
Is this the same as the federal filing I’ve heard about?
No. The federal requirement is a reporting law, and it’s separate from state ownership restrictions. We wrote that one up on its own.
Does this affect what my land is worth?
We haven’t seen it move value on European-owned land in the markets we work. What moves farmland value here is soil, drainage, tenancy, and the local buyer pool, as it usually does.
If you own Indiana land from Europe
Distance is the real problem, not the paperwork. You can’t drive past the field, you don’t know the tenant, and every question runs through somebody you’re hoping is being straight with you.
We work with owners in exactly that position. Hinnerk Wolters, who is fluent in German, works alongside Sara on the firm’s European investor relationships, and you can have the conversation with him in German if that’s easier.
Talk to Hinnerk Wolters. He works with our European owners, and the conversation can happen in German.
If you’d rather start with what management looks like from overseas, here’s how that works.
Hageman Realty is a licensed real estate brokerage, not a law firm, and nothing in this post constitutes legal advice or creates a professional-client relationship. Whether any obligation discussed in this article applies to you depends on your specific facts and circumstances. We encourage you to consult a qualified attorney experienced in agricultural land transactions and cross-border ownership matters before taking or declining to take any action around the content in this article.
The legal authorities referenced in this post were verified against Indiana and federal sources as of September 2, 2026. Law and agency guidance may change after that date, and Hageman Realty undertakes no obligation to update this post.
