Since it works as an investment for him, it also includes the benefits of using land as an . The risk is large. Stan Kroenke: Land area: 1.4 million acres. North Dakota Farmland Purchase. Those people are upset, but there are others that are just livid about this.. 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. In June 2008, Gates stepped away from the day-to-day management of Microsoft and concentrated on charity. Most of us imagine farmers tilling the soil that has been in their families for generations. At least thats what the developers partnered with Gates investment group have promised. Public records cited by AgWeek show that the Gates-linked Red River Trust bought the farmland from the owners of Campbell Farms, a potato farming group that is headquartered in Grafton, North Dakota, which is about 50 miles from the Canadian border. . The Foundation has nearly 40 million shares of Berkshire Hathaway which has a market value of over $7 billion. Lemmon Holdings invested in some 40 square miles of transitional land on the western fringe of the Phoenix sprawl. Which in turn means less impact on the environment. In emails, BlackRock spokesman Christopher Beattie told The Associated Press that the firm primarily invests in retail, office buildings, hotels and apartment complexes, rather than single-family homes, but he declined to provide a breakdown. It isless than .1% of all US farmland because the ownership is so diverse. That makes Invitation Homes the largest operator of single-family rental homes in the country, but still represents a tiny fraction of all such homes. Another notable acquisition was Cascade's $170 million purchase of 14,500 acres of farmland in Washington state from John Hancock Life Insurance in 2018. (Through a spokesperson, the company declined to comment for this article.). 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 Mother Jones, the average price of farmland increased six times from 1940 to 2015, and the trend is likely to continue as the amount of arable land in the U.S. continues to shrink from climate-related pressures. Reed family: Land area: 1.7 million acres. Africas farmers have a lot of problems, but one of the biggest is poor soil. In a recent episode of 60 Minutes, Gates explained that zero-carbon energy sources like nuclear power are vital in reducing the emissions that warm the atmosphere. The dealers also supply the seeds for legumes like soybeans and pigeon peas, which make their own fertiliser from nitrogen in the air, via bacteria in their root nodules. Some partners in the Arizona project issued a press release touting plans to build a forward-thinking community that embraces cutting-edge technology. There was talk of high-speed digital networks and autonomous logistics hubs. That was all it took for many in the media to conclude that Gates was personally engineering the city of the future. Last year, Cascade Investment made a second major investment in Arizona by acquiring more than 2,800 acres known as Spurlock Ranch in Buckeye for $25 million, that could be built out to include 8,500 homes. ", Gates responded at the time, "My investment team bought the farmland. Almost 300,000 acres is a lot of land for one family or private individual to own, but it's still just a small part of the estimated 911 million acres of farmland in the US. P4P aims to link the smallholder farmers explicitly into the process. Malone's 2.2 million acres are largely located in Maine, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming and include profitable cattle ranches. Getty Images for TIME In his Reddit AMA last year, one user said, "What do you plan to do with all the farmland you have purchased? Social media users have been sharing posts online that list claims about Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates. The vision is to produce more efficiently, but to be aware that climate change is happening, and that we must use all best practices to allow farmers to adapt, says Guei. Much of Turner's land is used as grazing land for over 50,000 head of buffalo the largest private herd of bison in the world. Pour en savoir plus sur notre utilisation de vos informations, veuillez consulter notre Politique relative la vie prive et notre Politique en matire de cookies. buying an increasing share of the U.S. housing market. Investors generally are nevertheless buying an increasing share of the U.S. housing market. The property is currently worth $130.8 million. The Forbes Real-Time Billionaire's list for 2022 shows Bill Gates is the fifth richest person in the world, with a net worth of approximately $111 billion, whi . Wonderful Company cofounders Stewart and Lynda Resnick (net worth: $7.1 billion) ranked number three . Some are near cities and might end up having other uses.". 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. Amazing, if truebut its extremely not. That works out to about $11,790 per acre . BlackRock also suggested it was being confused for the similarly-named investment management firm Blackstone, which until recently owned Invitation Homes. In 2014, he reportedly purchased more than 4,500 acres in Suwannee County, Florida, for nearly $28 million. Watch on. 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.'. Not all of these owners are American; in fact, the portion of farmland that is foreign-owned has grown about 60 percent in the last decade, from 22 million acres in 2009 to 35.2 million . And the Belmont property is located along Interstate 10, the regions major east-west artery, making it an excellent location for Amazon-style warehouse complexes. The land, most of which is non-irrigated, was transferred to Red River Trust on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 of last year. How fitting! Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. (According to The Land Report, Gates owns about 27,000 acres of non-agricultural land, in addition to his farm holdings.). AGRA was set up in 2006 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. There are more than 85 million single-family homes in the country, and only around 15 million of those are rentals, according to the latest American Housing Survey by the Census Bureau. In a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) last week, Gates once again fielded a question pertaining to his AG holdings and stated that he actually only owns 1/4000 of all U.S. farmland, or about 270,000 acres spread across 18 different states. This latest outburst is part of constantly growing anger against Gates and his foundation in India. One of the Gates' favorite vacation homes is in the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana. Most likely, it is just one more asset in Gates vast portfolio, quietly appreciating in value while the billionaire himself remains at arms length. In fact, he reportedly owns more farmland than any other individual in America. 5. In the words of Bill Gates, 3 billion people need to die. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was launched in 2000 and has $46.8 billion in assets (December 2018). For their part, governments must improve water storage and create drought-resistant crops. Opinion: Bill Gates and Warren Buffett should thank American taxpayers for their profitable farmland investments Last Updated: March 13, 2021 at 11:54 a.m. Banda attributes her success to the fertiliser and nitrogen-fixing bacteria she has been applying, which have put extra pep into her crops and enriched the soil. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. If those properties were grouped together and placed on a list of the world's countries by land area, it would fall within the top 50, higher than both France and Spain. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates finally revealed the reasons behind his massive purchase of farmland: seed science and biofuel development. 4356, that would block any new agricultural purchases by companies that are wholly or partly controlled by the Chinese government and would ban existing Chinese-owned farms in the U.S. from drawing from federal agricultural support programs. Bill Gates is the largest owner of land in America and there's a food crisis.. Bill Gates is the largest investor in renewables and there's a oil shortage.. Pelham (@Resist_05) April 18, 2022 AGRA farms are key suppliers, says Gudmunds. How Much Land Does Bill Gates Own In Africa? Bill Gates is one of the richest men in the world, but his wealth pales in comparison to that of other billionaires. The post says . Late last year, Eric OKeefe was researching a mysterious recent purchase of 14,500 acres of prime Washington state farmland. In six years that number has more than doubled. In April of this year, Reddit users had a chance to ask Gates this very question. The massive land grab by Gates last year gave the tech magnate his first appearance on The Land Report, a magazine that "provides news, information, and . Its soil health programme has set up 9000 dealers within 5 kilometres of farmers to sell them the supplies they need. Flagship projects in Tanzania and Malawi have each recruited 18,000 farmers, while in Ghana 117,000 have signed up. A new report from AGRA says climate change could increase the number of malnourished people in sub-Saharan Africa from 223 million today to 355 million in 2050. A new coalition of farmland owners, operators and environmental groups is working to come up with verifiable standards for sustainable farming. They give farmers more bargaining power and allows them to jointly fund communal assets, such as secure storehouses. Adding to the confusion, Blackstone was once a major investor in BlackRock, but sold off its stake in the 1990s. A single square mile contains 640 acres. Last year, Gates vowed to give away "virtually all" of his fortune to the philanthropic foundation he runs with French Gates. People want to know, Why does Bill Gates want all this land? , But hyper-wealthy people like Gates dont make every decision personally, OKeefe notes. He has very competent investment managers.. Bill Gates has started laying out his plans for creating a smart city in Phoenix, Arizona, science-news outlet Futurism wrote. 5. It is unclear how cheap biofuels can be but if they are cheap it can solve the aviation and truck emissions, Gates wrote, responding to a question in Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on social media platform Reddit in March. Three-quarters of them live in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The group is called Leading Harvest, and the Gates-linked Cottonwood Ag is one of its founding members. According to public records, the billionaires portfolio includes shares in Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, a Coca-Cola bottling company, and the tractor manufacturer Deere & Co., among other non-flashy investments. While that is . Mr. As Slate financial writer Henry Grabar concluded, the proposed town of Belmont is not a city, nor is it smart, nor does the Microsoft founder appear to be involved in any meaningful way.. Last year, her maize output was eight cartloads, while the soybean harvest soared to 37 bags. Left to die alone like an animal: Parents who left 23-stone disabled daughter to die in her own filth are Holiday home owners in Scotland face new SNP tax hike under plans from front-runner to be new First Scotland should just self-identify as an independent country, one SNP member proposed. The couple also snapped up an oceanfront home in San Diego County, California, last year, for a record making $43 million. 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'. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider That means Gates, whose net worth is estimated at some $134 billion according to Forbes annual ranking of the richest people in the country, owns less than one percent of the nations total farmland. One of the consequences of farm operators not actually owning their land is figuring out where farm subsidy money goes; much of it trickles to the actual owner of the land, who may just be treating farmland as a basic real estate investment. In a new report, GRAIN analyses all the food and agriculture grants the foundation has made up until 2020, and reveals that while the Foundation allegedly prioritises African farmers, the vast majority of its funding actually goes to groups in North America and Europe. Were connecting [smallholders] to the entire business chain, says Jama. Informations sur votre appareil et sur votre connexion Internet, y compris votre adresseIP, Navigation et recherche lors de lutilisation des sites Web et applications Yahoo. Impossible Foods had seen a huge surge in demandfor its Impossible Burger product that year. So far, only eight of 54 countries have done so.. That can mean better yields with decreased use of fertilizers and pesticides. by Harvard Universitys Joint Center for Housing Studies. In January, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it would create a nonprofit entity called Gates Ag One that will speed up efforts to provide smallholder farmers in developing countries with access to the affordable tools and innovations they need to sustainably improve crop productivity and adapt to the effects of climate change.. The option does not identify how much land . Gates Biggest Owner of Farmland in US Now says: "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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. The Prestigious school where Princes William and Harry were educated is EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Prince William's potentially awkward visit to homelessness charity. Jumbuck Pastoral Company is owned by the MacLachlan family. By the end of this century there will be 4 billion more people on Earth - and 3 billion of these extra souls . North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring told KFYR that public reaction to the purchase has been largely negative. The six-bed Del Mar home, which boasts a ten-person jacuzzi and swimming pool overlooking the ocean, was bought by the couple in late Marchas the international coronavirus pandemic began to take hold. The arrangement is simple, The Wall Street Journal wrote in a 2014 profile. What is the Venus-Jupiter conjunction and how can you view it? Theres also a proposal to build a new interstate linking Phoenix to Las Vegas. Renmatix has developed a process that converts plant waste and biomass into sugars that can be converted into biofuels and bio versions of chemicals.The patented Plantrose process uses supercritical water to reduce the costsof converting biomass to cellulosic sugars the critical intermediary for second-generation biochemicals and biofuels. The couples acquired farmlandisowned through a private investment company Cascade Investment.This company also owns shares in plant-based protein companies Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, as well as agricultural equipment maker John Deere. 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. In total, Mr Gates and his wife Melinda own 269,000 acres of land across 19 states, including 69,071 acres in Louisiana and 47,927 acres in Arkansas. the Land Report published. Gates and his wife paid almost $171 million for 14,500 acres of farmland in the Horse Heaven Hills of Benton County, Wash., according to The Land Report. Will Bill Gatess green tech initiatives ever intersect with his growing agricultural empire? He assigned his research team to dig a little deeper. That proposed superhighway would run across a 5-mile stretch of the Belmont property. The new green economy will mean new opportunities for land owners, OKeefe believes. More surprising, however, was the fact that Bill and Melinda Gates own more private farmland . One major customer for AGRA farmers is the UN World Food Programme (WFP), a famine-relief organisation. We already buy 80 per cent of our produce from developing countries, but those that bid for the contracts are usually the larger companies and farms, says Ahnna Gudmunds, the schemes advocacy officer. There will be 4 billion more people on Earth - and 3 billion need! Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming and include profitable cattle ranches been in their families for generations Dakota Commissioner..., governments must improve water storage and create drought-resistant crops a huge in! 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