Like wealth, land ownership is becoming concentrated into fewer and fewer hands, resulting in a greater push for monocultures and more intensive industrial farming techniques to generate greater returns. Bill Gates Land Grab - YouTube (Ruth Fremson/The New York Times) (Ruth Fremson / The New York Times via Redux Pictures), John Quarterman on his farm in Lowndes County, Ga. (Matt Odom / for NBC News), John Quarterman stands by the Withlacoochee River. All that farming has led to large water withdrawals from Florida's aquifer system and requires fertilizer, which leaches through the ground into waterways, emptying nitrogen that has led to destructive algae blooms and severe loss of fish and marsh habitats. There are also growing trends revolving around the purchase of low acreage farmland and noncommercial farming. U.S. Census Bureau data shows fewer than 20% of such properties are rentals, and the vast majority of those are owned by individual investors, not institutional investors like BlackRock. Bill Gates may no longer be the worlds richest man, but he can claim a new title: Americas farmland king. The extensive tax avoidance by these titans of industry will always far exceed their supposed charitable donations to the public. It is unclear how cheap biofuels can be but if they are cheap it can solve the aviation and truck emissions.. What Is The Banking Process To Buy Raw Land, Price Of Agricultural Land In The Philippines. To put that into perspective, thats nearly the size of Hong Kong and twice the acreage of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, where Im an enrolled member. Kroenke is married to Ann Walkton Kroenke, an heiress to the Wal-Mart fortune. The land that Gates owns is located in several states and consists primarily of commercial farmland. There is only a certain amount of land available on earth. Recently, an article in Land Report stated that Bill Gates owns more American farmland than anyone else. Why should striking rail and postal workers get a big pay rise while our pay packets remain stagnant or worse? The firm is a shareholder in Dallas-based Invitation Homes, which owns nearly 80,000 single-family rentals nationwide. The billionaire recently came under severe criticism from a fourth-generation farmer in South Georgia for his farmland ownership in the U.S. Will Harris, who owns a 152-year-old family farm named. Along the Columbia River border between Washington and Oregon, the Gateses purchased 100 Circles Farm, a 14,500-acre plot of land, for $171 million in 2018, according to property and business records. According to the Land Report in 2021, the Gateses had 242,000 acres of farmland, 1,234 acres or recreational land, and 25,750 acres of land that was in transition from farmland to residential and . In every state where the Gateses own land, a tangled web of locally registered limited liability companies follow. In Washington, the Gateses own more than 14,000 acres of farmland that includes potato fields so massive that they are visible from space and some of which are processed into french fries for McDonalds. Bill Gates owns a lot of American farmland, but not the majority He also purchased the 800-acre Bridlewood Farms in Florida. Investment firms are making the argument farmlands will meet carbon-neutral targets for sustainable investment portfolios while anticipating an increase of agricultural productivity and revenue. Apparently Bill Gates now owns almost 242,000 acres of land in the United States. North Dakotans Freak Over Bill Gates Land-Buying Mystery - Yahoo! But those working on projects with both investors and farmers to create ecologically sustainable farming methods and support diverse and disadvantaged farming communities say rethinking agriculture and working to avert a climate crisis go hand in hand. Bill and Melindas main residenceand by far their most impressive homeis a massive compound in Medina, Washington nicknamed 'Xanadu 2.0' in a reference to Citizen Kane. The title for largest landholdings overall goes to US businessman John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, who owns 2.2million acres. Bill Gates may no longer be the world's richest man, but he can claim a new title: America's farmland king. Bill Gates is now America's biggest farmer - The Telegraph Bill Gates' purchase of a large patch of land in North Dakota has sparked fury and conspiracy theories on social media after the Microsoft billionaire secured legal approval to purchase the. The Case for Bill Gates: Microsoft Corp co-founder is largely considered the biggest private owner of farmland in the U.S. with nearly 270,000 acres. As the population grows in large cities, some people will inevitably want to move to the country. Right? The billionaire Microsoft co-founder has become the largest owner of farmland in the United States by quietly buying up massive plots across the county, a new report says. In total, Malone owns roughly 2.2million acres of land and has a net worth of around $9.22billion, earning him the nickname the Cable Cowboy.. According to 2021 article from the Land Report, a magazine about land ownership, Gates owns approximately 242,000 . if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'askbamland_com-box-4','ezslot_4',104,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-askbamland_com-box-4-0'); Well, why would you think that a billionaire would want to own land? One per cent of the worlds farms control 70% of the worlds farmlands, one report found. Weve been trained by experience, land acquisition courses, and hundreds of hours meeting with county assessors and clerks, zoning officials, realtors, and land investors. When Bill Gates, or whatever other investment arm owns the land, a farmer still needs to farm it. of the richest people in the country, owns less than one percent of the nations total farmland. Though the Gateses are major owners of American farmland, the couples holdings only represent a fraction of the 283 million acres of farmland that is owned and rented out by nonfarmers. You can also fill out the contact form below if you are interested in buying or selling land. One of the largest plots of land owned by a subsidiary of the Gateses investment arm in Louisiana, Angelina Plantation, was previously owned by former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers, who died last year, a month after being released from prison. Gates owns almost 9,000 acres in Ohio, just over 9,000 acres in Indiana, nearly 18,000 in Illinois, but only 552 acres in Iowa. Many people wonder why Bill Gates would make these moves with his investment portfolio. Today, Bill Gates owns 242,000 acres of farmland in 19 states. 4 Dr. Alan Busacca, professor emeritus at Washington State University, told Land Report at the time that the fertile land in the area was used for growing 'apples, cherries, carrots, dryland and irrigated wheat, and row and field crops'. Wealth accumulation always goes hand-in-hand with exploitation and dispossession. Gates' purchase averaged $12,000 per acre. Tuesday, the office of the Attorney General sent out a letter asking the Red River Trust to confirm how the company plans to use the land . *According to figures compiled by The Land Report in 2019. Raw land is not developed. Bill Gates Called Out By Farmer For Secretly Buying Up US Farmland: 'I That kind of hard work isnt what made him rich. In 1994 Bill and Melinda Gates are said to have hired Michael Larson to help them diversify their property portfolio. This map shows that area as a rectangle that can be dragged. Bill Gates' Land Ownership. And in Florida, farmers grow carrots on their property. The agriculture sector is important, he wrote. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates finally revealed the reasons behind his massive purchase of farmland: seed science and biofuel development. . The potential is endless. So what is this guy planning? The Gates Foundation said in a statement that its agriculture efforts do not extend to farming in the U.S. Members of the Stanley family now work for Generations. Learn more about fact-checking at AP. I mean, it is unlikely that one of the richest people in the world would invest in something that wasnt a good investment, right? It also allows you to keep a portion of the land for personal use so you do not have to give up your weekend home or relaxation property. Why does Bill Gates own so much farmland? - FoodIndustry.Com We would love to talk to you! Land holds ample opportunities for growth and development, yet you may find that there is more land than there is competition. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, BillGatesbuys nearly $1B Heineken stake despite not being a big beer drinker, Bill Gates daughter living in $51M NYC home as she welcomes first baby, Elites want to use AI to censor political opponents, Bill Gates claims his private jet habit not part of the climate problem. So while the tech mogul certainly owns a large constellation of farms, its nowhere close to the majority nationwide. While most people do not have the ability to buy hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland like Bill Gates, anybody can look at land as an investment opportunity to take advantage of. The biggest chunks of Gates holdings are in Louisiana and Arkansas, where he owns 69,071 acres and 47,927 acres, respectively, the outlets research found. They own the soil where the potatoes in McDonald's french fries grow, the carrots from the world's largest . In six years that number has more than doubled. He owns 2m acres and has the worlds largest privately owned buffalo herd. The billionaire couple, in less than a decade, have accumulated more than 269,000 acres of farmland across 18 states, more than the entire acreage of New York City. You just have to keep it relatively clean, mow it, and pay property taxes. Billionaire owns 38-square miles of farmland in Illinois. Estate in Indian Wells, California: $12.5 Million. He owns significantly more farmland than Minnesota's Offutt family and California's Resnick family, which each own 190,000 acres and rank second equal on the list. According to the Land Report 100 Research Team, that figure is currently more than twice that amount, which means Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft, has an alter ego: Farmer Bill, the guy who owns more farmland than anyone else in America. Bill Gates currently owns over 268,000 acres of American farmland spread out over 19 states. That's basically the motivation there. Data gathered by The Land Report and NBC News show that their land holdings range from 70,000 acres in north Louisiana, where their farmland grows soybeans, corn, cotton and rice, to 20,000 acres in Nebraska, where farmers grow soybeans. The acquisition, however . When pressed during a book discussion on Reddit about why hes gobbling up so much farmland, Gates claimed, It is not connected to climate [change]. The decision, he said, came from his investment group. Cascade Investment, the firm making these acquisitions, is controlled by Gates. A white man owns more farmland than my entire Native nation! Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Ukrainian soldier takes out five tanks with Javelin missiles, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Hershey's Canada releases HER for SHE bars featuring a trans activist, Moment teenager crashes into back of lorry after 100mph police race. Bill and Melinda have purchased numerous properties in Wellington, Florida, over the years. In enrolling in Leading Harvest, Cascade has implemented new initiatives on its farmland holdings ranging from adding additional pollinator habitat in Nebraska to planting wildlife-friendly trees on dry pivot corners in Florida to hosting grain bin safety rescue training for the local community in Louisiana to converting numerous diesel power units to electric to reduce carbon output, to name a few, Zheren said. Farmland can be an investment in several ways. A 2014 Wall Street Journal profile of Larson, Cascade's chief investment officer, hinted at the beginning of that portfolio, after the piece noted that the firm owns 'at least 100,000 acres of farmland in California, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana and other states or an area seven times bigger than Manhattan.'. Bill Gates farm in Ohio could become giant Savion solar farm Now you have a foundation where the mission on one side is to save the world and to do all these wonderful things surrounding climate, and on the other side theyre investing in the exact same things that are causing the harm that the mission side is trying to protect, Mason said.