FIRMSAFIDA WATCH
FIRMS / Research for counsel

Articles & Research

County findings, historical records and economic context. Examine what the filings show, what they leave unresolved and where a defined research engagement can help.

Hidalgo County, Texas / Historical filings

Hidalgo’s old land records raise current questions for counsel

Three AFIDA snapshots contain recurring Mexico-linked records with acquisition years from 1972–1982. Independent population and economic sources describe the county that grew around them.

For counsel, the inquiry begins with the underlying interest, original filings and later changes in status. Recurring records provide a starting point; they do not independently verify a chain of title.

By Oran Jackson · Published October 16, 2026 · AFIDA 2010, 2016 and 2024

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Nine sections of FY2024 holdings: compare countries and land uses, select acquisition years, and inspect holder and parcel details. Published October 21, 2026.

Hidalgo County, Texas / Newsletter feature

A Land Record Is Where the Investigation Begins

From the national-security frame to one county's filings: 221,562.77 reported acres, the 1972–1984 transfer waves, and the Owner IDs behind them — placed beside the county's own history of work and public funding.

By Oran Jackson · Published October 21, 2026 · AFIDA FY2024

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Aroostook County, Maine / Ownership concentration

Land Is National Security. So Is Being Broke.

A Canada-linked timber holding illustrates how county records can frame questions about concentration, compliance and economic continuity. The interactive penalty example uses a separate hypothetical interest.

AFIDA Watch research · Published October 16, 2026 · AFIDA FY2024

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Open the detailed source and valuation reference

Trade / Aroostook County, Maine

The Door You Left Open

The USMCA ended investor-state dispute settlement for Canada but contained no farmland restrictions, no screening, and no land chapter — the door the rewrite left open, traced from CUSFTA and NAFTA through the 1999 Bowater–Irving sale.

By Oran Jackson · Published October 11, 2026 · AFIDA 2010 and 2024

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National / The financial footprint

The Financial Case

The FY2024 file reports $86.13 billion in Current Value across 47.24 million acres. Filing-time values and missing purchase prices require separate interpretation; these totals are not a current-market appraisal.

By Oran Jackson · Published October 11, 2026 · AFIDA 2010 and 2024

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Federal policy / Accountability

The Tests

Six falsifiable tests for the declarations — final rule, enforcement, and deeds — each with a pass condition and a place to check; every test reads pending in the archived September 2026 assessment, rather than a live status check.

By Oran Jackson · Published October 11, 2026 · AFIDA proposed rule 2026

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States / Enforcement

While Washington Wrote Reports

While federal AFIDA assessed eight penalties in eleven years, twenty-nine states regulated foreign ownership — and Arkansas enforced at the 25% maximum, collected, and ordered divestiture.

By Oran Jackson · Published October 11, 2026 · AFIDA and state records

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Federal policy / Chronology

Forty-Eight Years of Knowing

The 1978–2026 chronology of a government that knew — it built the disclosure law, received the reports, audited the failures, and declared the threat — and did not act.

By Oran Jackson · Published October 11, 2026 · AFIDA 1978–2026

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Cattle / Land use

The Vanishing Herd and the Foreign Pasture

More than 150,000 cattle operations lost since 2017 and the herd at a 75-year low, while USDA's beef white paper never mentions AFIDA or the foreign-held pasture acres.

By Oran Jackson · Published October 11, 2026 · AFIDA 2018 and USDA beef white paper

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Val Verde County, Texas / Ownership concentration

Val Verde Wasn’t a Mystery — Here’s What the Filings Show

The Forbes story arrived years after the data was filed — the filings name Brazos Highland Properties (Owner ID 34106) and Harvest Texas (Owner ID 34107), the entities behind roughly 140,000 Val Verde acres.

By Oran Jackson · Published June 6, 2026 · AFIDA filings

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Texas / Ownership concentration

The 2017 Anomaly: Questions Raised by Concentrated Texas Land Filings

Concentrated Texas acquisition-year records raise questions for ownership, location and source review. Timing and acreage alone do not establish a threat.

By Oran Jackson · Published May 29, 2026 · AFIDA

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Valuation / Currency

The Dollar Lost 87% Since 1972 — Why Aren't AFIDA Land Valuations Keeping Up?

Some 467,000 acres held by 538 source Owner IDs across 48 countries have zero Estimated Value and Current Value; Purchase Price is a separate field — while the dollar lost 87% of its purchasing power since 1972.

By Oran Jackson · Published May 24, 2026 · AFIDA 2010–2024

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Data quality / Valuation

Persistent Zero-Valuation Records in USDA AFIDA Data: A 2010-2024 Review

Zero-valuation records are not new or random — 686 in 2010, 681 in 2017, 657 in 2024, a persistent pattern of recurring source Owner IDs, without independent verification of uninterrupted ownership.

By Oran Jackson · Published May 18, 2026 · AFIDA 2010, 2017 and 2024

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Texas / Compliance

Texas Leads the Nation in Foreign-Held Land the Review Gap Is the Concern

Texas leads the nation in foreign-held agricultural land — the clearest testing ground for whether disclosure and review can keep pace with acquisitions.

By Oran Jackson · Published May 14, 2026 · AFIDA 2024

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Historical filings

Compare defined snapshots, retain source identifiers and distinguish recurring records from verified ownership history.

County context

Bring population, industries and public policy into view using separately identified sources, dates and geographic definitions.

Questions for counsel

Identify the documents, events and valuation evidence needed before drawing conclusions about an individual interest.

Define the question. Agree the research scope.

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