The tide began to shift in the early 2000s, when institutional investors began to give farmland a closer look. The buyer, Red River Trust, is tied to Bill Gates, the largest farmland owner in the US. While private companies and corporations are increasing . He has also been aproponent of chicken farming. Breitbart News reporter Alana Mastrangelo wrote: Gates is now America's largest private farmland owner, with hundreds of thousands of acres spanning across 19 U.S. states, according to the Land Report. Washington, DC The North Dakota attorney general's office recently inquired into a 2,100-acre farmland purchase by Red River Trust, an entity affiliated with Bill Gates. An ingredient in some of Chick-fil-As dipping sauces can cause serious health problems. Not only was he no longer reliant on his own companys success for his own personal wealth, but he set himself up to make even bigger moves in the decades to come. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. Why Bill Gates Is Investing In Chicken-Less Eggs, Memphis Meats raised $161 million to grow meat from cells, Bill Gates and Richard Branson backed a food startup which grows meat in labs, How Beyond Meat became a $550 million brand, winning over meat-eaters with a vegan burger that bleeds', Bill Gates headlines an all-star list of investors pumping $75 million into meatless burgers, How Impossible Burgers simple vision won hundreds of millions in funding and backing from Bill Gates. A spokesperson for Gates also told Reuters the claim that Gates owns the majority of U.S. farmland was false, pointing to the USDA figures. Bill Gates owns more private farmland in the US than anyone else, an analysis by The Land Report found. If Not for Climate, Then Why Is Bill Gates Buying so Much Farmland? AFN, 27 Aug. 2021, https://agfundernews.com/gates-if-not-for-climate-then-why-is-bill-buying-up-so-much-farmland. Due climate change, dry seasons will be drier, and wet seasons will be more intense, and bring more flooding. Pates wrote that while "nobody involved in the deal seems eager to talk about it," public records connected Gates and the buyer, Red River Trust. The transitional land he owns in Arizona is reportedly being built into a suburb .. Eggs have become expensive and scarce in some parts of the country. Plum Creek, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, is the largest private landowner in Michigan after purchasing 650,000 acres in 2005. Officially, the general public doesnt know exactly what Bill Gates growing farmland estate is being used for. (AP). While private companies and corporations are increasing their ownership of U.S. homes, BlackRock, through its investments, does not own a majority of single-family homes. Farmland has some natural built-in drawbacks for all of the built-in benefits: Just 20 years ago, it was difficult to invest in farmland if you werent already independently wealthy. It is reported that Bill Gates owns over 269,000 acres of farmland in over a dozen states, making him the largest farmland owner in America. By divesting his personal wealth from his own thriving tech company, and diversifying into myriads of other non-tech based businesses, Merged from the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation quickly became. Owning farmland is one of the most prudent financial investments to make now. According to Redfin, single-family housing represented over 70% of the properties purchased by investors in the third quarter of 2021 (here). Gates private office, Gates Ventures, told PolitiFact this claim is false. St. Petersburg, FL Bill and Melinda Gates also cracked the Land Report's Top 100 Landowners for the first time coming in at number 49. But there is no evidence these investments are linked to a nationwide shortage in chicken and egg products. The controversy over Bill Gates becoming the largest private farmland owner in the US People are drawing connections between Gates's vast farmlands and climate change advocacy. To put it into perspective, if all of Gates land was in one place, it would cover about 25% of Rhode Island. His . Why am I just learning about this NOW?. Gates is not the only billionaire on The Land Report 's list of top private farmland owners. 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. Gates has been asked about his farmland purchases before. There are 94.6 million single-family houses in the United States, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau American Housing Survey (2019) (bit.ly/3seI7kV). "Those people are upset, but there are others that are just livid about this.". For now, Gatess ever-expanding farmland ownership is really just rich guy doing rich guy things, and while concerning in a late-stage capitalism sort of way, it isnt as cartoonishly nefarious as some conspiratorial corners of the internet want to believe. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Wonderful Company cofounders Stewart and Lynda Resnick (net worth: $7.1 billion) ranked number three . In Washington, the duo owns more than 14,000 acres of farmland that includes potato . Trump killed them., The Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl win has been put on hold as NFL plans to launch an investigation on possible (performance-enhancing drug) use by Patrick Mahomes during halftime.. This material may not be reproduced without permission. According to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) (here), using data of the Rental Housing Finance Survey, between 2001 and 2018 the proportion of rental properties owned by non-individual investors, which include partnerships, trustees for estate, real estate corporations, real estate investment trusts, and other entities, increased from 18% to 26%. In the past, Gates has invested in companies developing artificial or plant-based alternatives to meat, and he is currently the countrys largest private farmland owner, according to The Land Report, a magazine that surveys the countrys largest landowners annually. Supreme Court just voted to ban condoms., Says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he wants Americas sons and daughters to go die in Ukraine., In Ohio, there are 75,000 acres of farmland, fertile farmland, that are all now being poured down with acid rain., Muslims by the millions are converting to Christianity.. Recently, NBC News reported that Bill Gates along with his estranged wife Melinda Gates had acquired more than 269,000 acres of farm in the United States in the past 10 years. There were 895.3. Billionaire Bill Gates explains why he buys a lot agricultural land - Photo: BENZINGA. Bill Gates owns a ton of farmland in the United Statesas in, about 270,000 acres. Conspiracy Theorists claimed last year that the Microsoft founder was buying up farmland in the U.S. to starve Americans for some unknown reason, Snopes said, after researchers said in April that the world was facing a potential food shortage due to Russias invasion of Ukraine. Alongside his investments, Gates has also purchased farmland in at least 19 states, according to The Land Report. As per the report, the Gates have their own land in at least 18 American states. I have invested in these farms to make them more productive and create more jobs. 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. Bill Gates Uses Farmland as an Investment Outlet Buying up Potato, Carrot and Onion Farms. NBC News, https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/mcdonald-s-french-fries-carrots-onions-all-foods-come-bill-n1270033. The financial crisis later in that same decade prompted an explosion of investments into farmland when monetary safe havens became scarce. The state is investigating the purchase of potato farmland by the Gates-linked trust, with the states Attorney General writing in a letter that it wasprohibited from owning or leasing farmland or ranchland in the state of North Dakota.. Bill is now the biggest owner of farmland in 2022 a great hedge asset against rising inflation. Think about how much Bill Gates would have lost if he hadn't diversified in 1999. Investors from the Netherlands own 33% of that land with Canadians owning 25%. TheNew York Post reportsthat public records recently cited by AgWeek reveal that an entity called Red River Trust with links to billionaire Bill Gates recently purchased 2,100 acres of potato farmland in northern North Dakota, prompting state officials to intervene after complaints from local residents. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider Official: Michigan State gunman had note threatening 2 New Jersey schools. Age Requirements Most ordinances require, Huckleberries are small bright blue, or dark blue, or black berries which grow wild near marshes in Michigan. About 350,000 acres of the U.S. government land in Hawaii were kept for military installations and national parks. Since his divorce, it is unclear how the assets were split up between the couple. Who owns the most farm ground in the US? Featured in the agricultural side of their plan is a strategy for subsistence farmers and other small-acre farms in Africa and the developing world education, resources, and layaway payment plans which can be used through smartphones. researchers warned about the potential risk of a global food shortage, currently no nationwide food shortages in the United States, the number of fires was not extraordinary, the causes of the fires were not unusual, and the damage caused by the fires was minimal, 2021 report from the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Agriculture Statistics Service, you'd cover an area about a quarter the size of Rhode Island, Gates was putting microchips into vaccines, Gates had input tracking devices into vaccines, vaccinations as a way to depopulate the planet. The report states that Gates has 70,000 acres of land in North Louisiana where they grow soybeans, corn, cotton. How long is it from Michigan to Detroit? Other noteworthy farmland investors include Ted Turner and Thomas Peterffy. The Justice Department has been calling parents that are concerned about what their kids are being taught, they are labeling them terrorists., Sen. Marco Rubio signed a 2021 letter that supports waivers that would reduce visual track inspections.. In addition, he owns 25,750 acres of transitional land and 1,234 acres of recreational land for total land holdings of 268,984 acres. Billionaire Bill Gates reportedly shopped for 'hundreds of acres of farmland' in Turkey while vacationing aboard a superyacht that emits an estimated 19 tons of CO2 a day before heading to the . as well as other partner offers and accept our. Distance from Michigan to Detroit The shortest route between Michigan and Detroit is, Michigan law is absolutely clear that an adult over the age of 21 shall not sell or furnish alcohol to a minor. Bill left most of his professional work at Microsoft at this time to work with Melinda and the foundation. Our office needs to confirm how your company uses this land and whether this use meets any of the statutory exceptions, such as the business purpose exception, so that we may close this case and file it in our inactive files, the letter added. Heres why.," Jan. 10, 2023. Accessed 28 Apr. His idea, like many others, was to diversify his investments across different asset classes. Northern Kansas land sale averages $3,500 per acre. Oversight," June 15, 2018, The Chicago Tribune, "Chicken nuggets and cream cheese grow in trays in a South Side lab. Read next:Bezos-Backed Startup Lets You Become A Landlord With $100. In that same Reddit AMA from 2021, the one where Gates separated his land investments from his sustainability initiatives, he also mentioned the importance of productive seeds to avoid deforestation as well as the production of biofuels, which relies heavily on corn, in the very same answer. During times of uncertainty, people often look for someone to blame, and peddlers of misinformation are quick to tell others at whom they should be pointing their fingers. Reuters traced the figure cited by social media posts as the number of acres owned by Bill Gates to The Land Report, which reports on major land ownership in the United States. "Our office needs to confirm how your company uses this land and whether this use meets any of the statutory exceptions," the letter said. The North Dakota purchase would put those total holdings at more than 270,000 acres, though it's not clear how the property is being divided following Gates and French Gates' divorce last year. One answer might surprise you: While trying to track down who recently purchased 14,500 acres of choice farmland in Washington state's Columbia River Basin, researchers at The Land Report discovered the new owner was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Check out current deals on AcreTrader now! In fact, he reportedly owns more farmland than any other individual in America. It's hard to visualize just how much land 242,000 acres amounts to unless . North Dakota officials have questions and residents are furious about a major land grab by a trust linked to billionaire and anti-meat zealot Bill Gates, the nation's biggest owner of farmland. Valuations of equities (stocks) are at all time highs, similar to the dot-com bubble. Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, has been revealed as the biggest private owner of farmland in the US, after buying up 242,000 acres in 18-states. Social media post scrambles the facts on high egg prices, Gateway Pundit, "Bill Gates Invested In Artificial Eggs a Decade Before Egg Shortage," Jan. 24, 2023, PolitiFact, "What Bill Gates has to do with livestock, lab-grown meat," May 18, 2020, PolitiFact, "Eggflation? 41 on The Land Report's 2022 list of Americans who own the most land. Breitbart News reporter Alana Mastrangelo wrote: Gates is now Americas largest private farmland owner, with hundreds of thousands of acres spanning across 19 U.S. states, according tothe Land Report. The tech billionaire owns 69,071 acres in Louisiana, 47,927 acres in Arkansas, and 20,588 acres in Nebraska. 1 landowner in the U.S. is billionaire John Malone, the chairman of Liberty Media, who tops . Climate Connection. Another meme circulating online reads: Bill Gates is buying all the farmland. This position in Microsoft was quickly funneled by Cascade Investment into this long term growth strategy. The billionaire cant seem to do anything without drawing the conspiratorial ire of online netizens. (here). Gates is just using farmland to make Agri-Tech and financial investments. 1800 I Street NW Over time, Gates sold personal stock in Microsoft and reinvested it through Cascade Investment. Gates believes that subsistence farmers and impoverished peoples will be among the most affected by climate change. Gates also owns land in Arizona (25,750 acres), Illinois (17,940),Mississippi (16,963),Washington (16,097), Florida (14,828), Idaho (9,233), Indiana (9,136), Ohio (8,915), California (4,509), Colorado (2,270), Michigan (2,167), Wisconsin (1,188), Wyoming (975), North Carolina (874), Iowa (552), and New Mexico (1). a Reddit user asked. That makes him the largest landowner in the U.S. Stats show agriculture is a pretty good investment for billionaires. The Gates Foundation has focused their efforts on alleviating the aftermaths of climate change since its founding. According to 2021 article from the Land Report, a magazine about land. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Who owns the most property in Detroit Michigan? 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. The explanation offered by conspiracy theorists for this untrue claim was that these fires were being intentionally set in order to create a food crisis. Microsoft founder and billionaire turned philanthropist Bill Gates recently laid the long-time conspiracy theory that he owns some 80% of all U.S. farmland to rest in his 11th appearance in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit. China has steadily accumulated U.S. Treasury securities over the last few decades. Farmland, Biden Hears Oval Office Plea for Alaska Oil Project in Lobbying Frenzy, Apple tops ranking of global companies with the most 'green' revenue, UPDATE 2-North Korea says UN should demand end to S.Korea-US military drills, US Treasury puts cost of outbound investment risk program at $10 million, US Jobs Report and Powell Testimony Take Center Stage: Eco Week. The Land Report found in 2021 that the Gateses had 242,000 acres of farmland, 1,234 acres of recreational land, and 25,750 acres of land in transition from farmland to residential and commercial use (think suburban development). It has been very fulfilling for me and is my full time job," Gates continued. According to O'Keefe, Gates isn't the only one making moves on the farmland market, especially as farm real estate value s nationwide increased 7% from 2020 to $3,390 per acre. RELATED: What Bill Gates has to do with livestock, lab-grown meat, RELATED: Eggflation? Farmland in am. BlackRock is a shareholder in both companies (here) (here). for different crops that have been gene edited to be pest-proof, flood proof, disease proof, and climate change-resistant. Gates personal farmland portfolio is managed by Michael Larson and Cascade Investment. As of October 2021, the Asian nation owns $1.065 trillion, or about 3.68%, of the $28.9 trillion U.S. national debt, which is more than any other foreign country except Japan. This is a sponsored promotion for the AcreTrader platform. Gates and his investment team own more than 240,000 acres, as reported by OKeefe, including 2,167 acres in Michigan. Infected flocks are culled to prevent the flu from spreading. Farmland REITs have a high degree of correlation with the overall stock market, and returns tend to be lower than less liquid farmland investments. But that's just a portion of the vast holdings Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, own from sea to shining sea. American Homes 4 Rent holds around 57,024 single-family properties (here). He has also written on his personal blog about the future of food, the increasing demand for meat as the global population rises and the environmental effects of livestock farming. Similar to private equity firms destabilizing the housing market, millionaires and billionaires investing in farmland are also creating their own set of issues, as they are now pricing out young farmers looking to buy land. Tue, Feb 28, 2023 LOGIN . Momentum accelerated during the 2008-2009 Great Financial Crisis, when investors grew desperate for alternatives to traditional safe haven investments like bonds and gold. The figure is far below the total area of U.S. farmland. Returns from farmland have actually outpaced the stock market in recent years with significantly less volatility. What special interest does Bill Gates have in farmland? Gates has a big vision for all that land, but unfortunately it doesn't involve organic, biodynamic or regenerative farming methods, which are needed to heal ecosystems and produce truly sustainable, nourishing food for future generations What Happened: Gates answered dozens of questions over the course of a few hours during the AMA, including: Why are you buying up so much farmland, do you think this is a problem with billionaire wealth and how much you can disproportionally acquire?, He responded, I own less than 1/4000 of the farmland in the US. Gates does not own anywhere close to the majority of America's farmland. The tweet had gathered over 215,000 likes at the time of writing. In addition to farmland, the Gates' portfolio includes numerous public investments, the Gates Foundation, a major stake in the Four Seasons Hotel, and much more. The billionaire is one of the founders of the Giving Pledge, which asks the world's wealthiest people to give away most of their fortunes to charitable causes. Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. The Detroit Land Bank Authority (DLBA) is a public authority that owns and manages approximately 100,000 parcels of property in the City of Detroit making it the citys largest landowner.Detroit Land Bank Authority. In 2020, Gates made headlines for becoming the largest private farmland owner in the U.S. It was a cold January day in 2021 when Eric O'Keefe, editor and founder of The Land Report, walked up to the podium at the Land Expo in Iowa and announced Bill Gates as America's largest individual farmland owner.He learned this after investigating Gates' purchase of the 100 . No one but Bill Gates knows that answer. Farmland as an investment offers low volatility. Gates owns roughly 275,000 acres of farmland in the US, according to the 2022 edition of the Land Report 100, a yearly survey of the biggest landowners in the country. Where farmland differs from other alt assets is that because its such a crucial human resource (food = humans), in less-than-desirable economic situations, farmland tends to appreciate even further in value, as opposed to losing value (I.E., during a dreaded stock market crash). Business entities have, however, been increasing their presence as owners of rental properties. FILE - Bill Gates attends a discussion during the 'Munich Security Conference' in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. Claims online that billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates owns the majority of U.S. farmland and that BlackRock, the worlds largest asset manager, owns the majority of U.S. single-family houses are factually inaccurate, according to industry data and spokespeople for Gates and BlackRock. An entity linked to billionaire Bill Gates has reportedly purchased 2,100 acres of potato farmland in northern North Dakota angering local residents. While many have also speculated that Gates' land purchases were in some way related to his efforts to curb climate change, Gates has said that the two are unrelated. Bill GatesWith almost 269,000 acres, Bill Gates retained his ranking as Americas largest private farmland owner. 20006, Florida Gates' farmland purchases, which have mostly been made in the last five years, started in 2017 when he bought $520 million of farmland spread over five dozen properties from the Canada. In a March 2021 "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, Gates was asked why he had purchased so much farmland. So, what's the interest in farmland? Last year, Gates vowed to give away "virtually all" of his fortune to the philanthropic foundation he runs with French Gates. Why? The Guardian, 5 Apr. "With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. Hes also written about the need for more ways to produce meat without depleting environmental resources. Of those states, Gates owns the most land in Louisiana, where he is proprietor of more than 69,000 acres. Where Does Bill Gates Own Farmland in the US. stated on February 26, 2023 a video on Facebook: stated on February 15, 2023 a photo on Facebook: stated on January 29, 2023 a video on Facebook: stated on February 5, 2023 an Instagram post: stated on January 27, 2023 a video on Facebook: stated on January 22, 2023 an Instagram post: stated on January 16, 2023 a photo on Facebook: stated on January 12, 2023 a photo on Facebook: stated on November 6, 2022 an Instagram post: stated on October 26, 2022 a post on Instagram: stated on October 12, 2022 an Instagram post: stated on October 9, 2022 a Facebook post: stated on March 3, 2023 in a Conservative Political Action Conference speech: stated on February 19, 2023 in a Facebook post: stated on February 24, 2023 in an Instagram post: stated on March 2, 2023 in a speech at CPAC: stated on February 25, 2023 in a Facebook post: stated on February 22, 2023 in a Facebook post: stated on February 26, 2023 in an Instagram post: stated on February 27, 2023 in a Facebook post: All Rights Reserved Poynter Institute 2020, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.