Along with his wife Melinda Gates, Bill owns over 268,000 acres of farmland diversified in over 19 states. Bill Gates Defends Farmland Purchases: 'There Isn't Some Grand Scheme' Even in an age of rapidly encroaching automation, it isn't, and never has been, easy being a farmer. You cant just say, Ive got $30,000 saved up and I want to buy some farmland, Sherrick notes. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. 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I had gained this smidgen of geologic proficiency while researching our 2018 Farmland Deal of the Year, Weidert Farm, in neighboring Walla Walla County. The agriculture sector is important. For related content and insights from industry experts, sign up for Successful Farming newsletters. With proper techniques, the carbon from decaying plant matter can be kept safely in the soil, rather than entering the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. It took a dozen years, but the ownership of that Louisiana farmland went from Bernie Ebbers to Bill Gates with a couple of stops in between. Information is provided 'as is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice. In the future, farmers will be paid for sustainability, says Sherrick, who sits on the groups board. His portfolio is diversified, in other words. His magazine, The Land Report, tracks major land transactions and produces an annual list of the 100 biggest US landowners. Does Bill Gates Own the Majority of US Farmland? | Snopes.com The largest parcel, a proposed 24,800-acre development known as Belmont, might someday contain 80,000 homes, along with offices, retail, industrial and logistics facilities. Bill Gates is now the biggest owner of FARMLAND in the US after buying In January 2021, Bill Gates became the largest owner of farmland in the United States. The Land Report magazine reported in January that Bill and Melinda Gates have amassed the largest portfolio of private farmland in the U.S. A $171 million purchase of 14,500 acres of prime eastern Washington farmland in 2018 gave the power couple an estimated 242,000 acres of farmland, which is nearly the size of Hong Kong. According to The Land Report, at the time, Gates had a total of 268,985 acres, almost all of which is active farmland. However, one cannot become a farmer without a sense of optimism. Bill and Melinda Gates. In an interviewwithMIT Technology Review last month, Gates argued that higher-income societies should completely replace their consumption of cattle-derived beef with synthetic alternatives. Theres a lot of little benefits that stack up when talking about farmland, but the biggest is likely the fact that farmland returns historically out performs most other investment vehicles, and is also comparatively the least volatile asset among the bunch. As of 2020, industry reports show he owned about 0.027% of U.S. farmland. Bill Gates is about to change the way America farms The cofounder of Microsoft and his wife make an auspicious debut on the 2020 LAND REPORT 100, as America's largest private farmland owners. The billionaire couple, in less than a. Tens of thousands of acres? With the Washington state acreage and other recent additions to his portfolio, OKeefe calculated, Gates now owns at least 242,000 acres of American farmland. The very next year, however, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board began shedding these very same farmland assets as quickly as it had acquired them. Here are a few likely reasons why Bill Gates is scooping up farmland: Whatever you may think about the man himself, he has consistently made investing choices that brought him unusual and incredible returns, and this has brought him great wealth when others made the wrong fiscal moves, and lost much. A $13.5 million purchase of a North Dakota potato farm is drawing outrage and legal scrutiny. This half-billion-dollar figure corroborated the AgCoA acquisition, and the paper trail led directly to Cascade Investment LLC. Corporations own the other 3% and rent land or buy many of the crops owned by the 97%. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File ), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. There isn't some grand scheme involved - in fact all these decisions are made by a professional investment team.". By clicking Sign Up, you also agree to marketing emails from both Insider and Morning Brew; and you accept Insiders. , said his investment group was behind the purchases, and suggested it was linked to seed and biofuel development. Turns out that very same property had caught my eye way back when The Land Report was preparing to launch in 2006. Farmland Riches is sponsored by FarmTogether. Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates owns a majority of America's farmland. A spokesperson for Cascade Investment a firm chaired and controlled by Bill Gates, and possibly what he was referring to as my investment group on Reddit declined to comment on specific land holdings at the time. While he owns a significant amount, it is a relatively small slice of the nations nearly 900 million total farm acres. Additionally, these small-scale, developing country farms serve local communities. And why is Bill Gates the largest private owner of farmland in the United States? However, Bill Malone is an American billionaire businessman who owns over 2.2 million acres of farms, ranches, and forests in the United States. Leading Harvest envisions a kind of sustainability seal of approval certifying that a given farm meets environmental standards. People that live in that area, people that live around the state know about the situation, Goehring said in response, Theyre probably more angry because, first of all, they dont want Bill Gates as a neighbor, but the land was sold for less than what it would have been auctioned.. It has also funded myriad research facilities and humanitarian operations, focusing on overcoming diseases, climate change, agricultural research, and health and nutrition in underdeveloped areas. When Ted Turner bought his Flying D Ranch in Montana in 1989, that was his personal passion, OKeefe says. But some of the software pioneers investments do reveal his grander goals. It was his last deal as a free man. In 2017, Cascade Investment bought a significant stake in 24,800 acres of transitional land on the western edge of Phoenix, the most populous city in Arizona and the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the country. All https://www.barchart.com/solutions/ is provided by Barchart Solutions. Bill Gates owns more private farmland in the US than anyone . According to the Tri-City Herald, a 14,500-acre swath of choice eastern Washington farmland in the Horse Heaven Hills of Benton County had just traded hands for almost $171 million. According to The Land Report, the Microsoft co-founder owns farmland across 18 states, with the largest holdings being in Louisiana (69,071 acres), Arkansas (47,927 acres) and Nebraska (20,588. Many people wonder why Bill Gates would make these moves with his investment portfolio. Because of this crucial factor inherent to farmland, it also tends to provide better, consistent returns during times where inflation rises another scenario where more traditional assets like stocks and real estate suffer in. Ebbers subsequently pledged Douglas Lake as collateral for $400 million he ended up borrowing from WorldCom, and in 2003, WorldCom sold Douglas Lake to Kroenke Ranches. It will help farmers in developing countries access Agri-Tech, improve farming tools, learn how to maximize yield better and better adapt to climate change. Report: Bill Gates is largest owner of private farmland in U.S., with Going forward, in line with the spirit of Leading Harvest, Cascade plans to continue to evaluate and implement new initiatives that will improve the overall sustainability of its farmland portfolio, the spokesperson revealed. Bill Gates' purchase of North Dakota farmland has locals 'livid': official The biggest concern has been the Chinese companys proximity to a Grand Forks Air Force Base a United States military installation located 20 minutes down the road. The Americas Editor at Agri Investor, Janiec reported that the assets had been offered as a single block and that Microsoft founder Bill Gates is thought to be the buyer of CPPIBs farmland. Janiec stayed on the story, and the following year, he confirmed the parameters of sale when he reported the addition of 61 properties valued at approximately $500 million to the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF) U.S. The fund recently raised $1 billion, which it is pouring into companies developing hydrogen-fueled airplanes, zero-carbon building materials, and other green innovations. retail, office buildings, hotels and apartment complexes, rather than single-family homes, but he declined to provide a breakdown. There is absolutely no connection between the Gate[s] North Dakota farmland investments and the Fufeng Group, a spokesperson for Cascade Investment, which oversees the investments of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and Bill Gates, told The Post. for different crops that have been gene edited to be pest-proof, flood proof, disease proof, and climate change-resistant. Bill Gates Attempts to Explain Why He Bought More Farmland - Futurism In fact, Gates is the owner of over 270,000acres of farmland, which is worth over $700 million! Without innovation, we will not solve climate change, Gates said. Why am I just learning about this NOW?. The total portfolio of farmland is worth well over $700 million. And from an agricultural perspective, the region surrounding Walla Walla and the Horse Heaven Hills has evolved into a commercial hub, complete with controlled atmosphere (CA) storage, state-of-the-art transportation infrastructure, and ready access to low-cost hydropower. The Microsoft co-founder is considered the largest private owner of farmland in the country with some 269,000 acres across dozens of states, according to last years edition of the Land Report 100, an annual survey of the nations largest landowners. The company also took to Twitter to reject the false narrative. You might remember an intriguing story from earlier this year, when an investigative journalist discovered that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates had been quietly buying up so much farmland. He created the pledge in 2010 with his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, and his close friend and Berkshire Hathaway CEO, Warren Buffett. New seeds can reduce water use but some areas wont be able to farm as much.. THE FACTS: As Elon Musks bid to purchase Twitter has grabbed headlines in recent days, some prominent voices have taken to social media to claim that some other significant acquisitions by deep-pocketed individuals and corporations have largely flown under the radar. There will be incentives for things like using less water, fewer chemicals, and storing more carbon. Either that or I had a screw loose. Since his divorce, it is unclear how the assets were split up between the couple. Our exposure to Invitation Homes is owning its stock in mutual funds we manage, not buying houses w/ them,. That makes Invitation Homes the, largest operator of single-family rental homes in the country, but still represents, BlackRock also suggested it was being confused for the similarly-named i. nvestment management firm Blackstone, which until recently owned Invitation Homes. The firm is a shareholder in plant-based protein companiesBeyond MeatandImpossible Foods, as well as agricultural equipment makerJohn Deere. And it tends to be negatively correlated against other investments, he adds: If the stock market is going down, the return on farmland is likely to be going up. Are you interested in investing in farmland? How can this inform our personal investment decisions? We wont even come close.. And for those wondering why exactly Gates has taken a keen interest in investing in farmland across the country, look no farther than the profit margins. is not a registered broker-dealer, investment adviser, or crowdfunding portal under Regulation CF. Gates co-founded Microsoft. And the methods may cost more than the value of the yield.