350.015. Corporations not to engage in farming--exceptions.
Corporations not to engage in farming--exceptions.
350.015. After September 28, 1975, no corporation not already engaged infarming shall engage in farming; nor shall any corporation, directly orindirectly, acquire, or otherwise obtain an interest, whether legal,beneficial or otherwise, in any title to agricultural land in this state;provided, however, that the restrictions set forth in this section shall notapply to the following:
(1) A bona fide encumbrance taken for purposes of security;
(2) A family farm corporation or an authorized farm corporation asdefined in section 350.010;
(3) Agricultural land and land capable of being used for farming ownedby a corporation as of September 28, 1975, including the normal expansion ofsuch ownership at a rate not to exceed twenty percent, measured in acres, inany five-year period, or agricultural land and land capable of being used forfarming which is leased by a corporation in an amount, measured in acres, notto exceed the acreage under lease to such corporation as of September 28,1975, and the additional acreage for normal expansion at a rate not to exceedtwenty percent in any five-year period, and the additional acreage reasonablynecessary, whether to be owned or leased by a corporation, to meet therequirements of pollution control regulations;
(4) A farm operated wholly for research or experimental purposes,including seed research and experimentation and seed stock production forgenetic improvements, provided that any commercial sales from such farm shallbe incidental to the research or experimental objectives of the corporation;
(5) Agricultural land operated by a corporation for the purposes ofgrowing nursery plants, vegetables, grain or fruit used exclusively forbrewing or winemaking or distilling purposes and not for resale, for forestcropland or for the production of poultry, poultry products, fish or mushroomfarming, production of registered breeding stock for sale to farmers toimprove their breeding herds, for the production of raw materials forpharmaceutical manufacture, chemical processing, food additives and relatedproducts, and not for resale;
(6) Agricultural land operated by a corporation for the purposes ofalfalfa dehydration exclusively and only as to said lands lying within fifteenmiles of a dehydrating plant, and provided further said crops raised thereonshall be used only for further processing and not for resale in its originalform;
(7) Any interest, when acquired by an educational, religious, orcharitable not-for-profit or pro forma corporation or association;
(8) Agricultural land or any interest therein acquired by a corporationother than a family farm corporation or authorized farm corporation, asdefined in section 350.010, for immediate or potential use in nonfarmingpurposes. A corporation may hold such agricultural land in such acreage asmay be necessary to its nonfarm business operation; provided, however, thatpending the development of agricultural land for nonfarm purposes, such landmay not be used for farming except under lease to a family farm unit, a familyfarm corporation or an authorized farm corporation, or except when controlledthrough ownership, options, leaseholds, or other agreements by a corporationwhich has entered into an agreement with the United States of America pursuantto the New Community Act of 1968 (Title IV of the Housing and UrbanDevelopment Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C. 3901-3914), as amended, or a subsidiary orassign of such a corporation;
(9) Agricultural lands acquired by a corporation by process of law orvoluntary conveyance in the collection of debts, or by any procedure for theenforcement of a lien or claim thereon, whether created by mortgage orotherwise; provided, that any corporation may hold for ten years real estateacquired in payment of a debt, by foreclosure or otherwise, and for suchlonger period as may be provided by law;
(10) The provisions of sections 350.010 to 350.030 shall not apply tothe raising of hybrid hogs in connection with operations designed to improvethe quality, characteristics, profitability, or marketability of hybrid hogsthrough selective breeding and genetic improvement where the primary purposeof such livestock raising is to produce hybrid hogs to be used by farmers andlivestock raisers for the improvement of the quality of their herds;
(11) A bank or trust company acting as administrator or executor underthe terms of a will or trustee under the terms of a testamentary or intervivos trust created by the owner of a family farm, or an inter vivos ortestamentary trust, the principal of which is shares of a family farmcorporation or authorized farm corporation and which trust is created by ashareholder of the family farm corporation or authorized farm corporation.However, a bank or trust company acting in the administration of an investmenttrust or a management trust formed with the primary purpose of making ormanaging investments or income-producing property and purchasing agriculturalreal estate with trust funds with the primary benefits accruing to investorsor shareholders in the trust is not exempt from the provisions of sections350.010 to 350.030;
(12) Agricultural land that on June 1, 1998, was in compliance withsection 350.016.
(L. 1975 H.B. 655 § 2, A.L. 1977 S.B. 326, A.L. 1998 S.B. 832)