Gates does not own the majority of U.S. farmland. Bill Gates and his estranged wife Melinda Gates have accumulated more than 269,000 acres of farmland across 18 American states. He recently tried to explain why, and it was a little hard to follow. He's the new MacDonald: Bill Gates owns hundreds of thousands of acres across the United States including 242,000 acres of farmland making him the country's top agricultural landholder, according to Eric O'Keefe's The Land Report. Based on Bill Gates budding friendship with Warren Buffett, Cascade adopted much of Buffets approach to investing: invest in good companies, and hold long term to see healthy returns. He was right when he predicted the COVID-19 epidemic in 2015. Just over 70% of these were owned by individual investors. Bill Gates, and the Chinese, are not just buying up farm land for that purpose. Representatives for Gates did not immediately respond to messages from Insider requesting comment. How many farms Does Bill Gates Own? Will Bill Gatess green tech initiatives ever intersect with his growing agricultural empire? Social media posts blame Gates investments in plant-based meat alternatives and his status as the nations largest private farmland owner for triggering the countrys current chicken and egg shortages. Interestingly enough, though the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is working on this agriculture initiative. The Bureau of Labor Statistics latest update shows egg prices rose 60% over the last year. The report states that Gates has 70,000 acres of land in North Louisiana where they grow soybeans, corn, cotton. He had accumulated more than 269,000 acres of farmland across 18 states in less than a decade. Bill Gates owns almost as much U.S. agricultural land as China at 248,000 acres, . Why? AREA 8 CASH CROPS AND DAIRY Area 8 is the leading cash crop area in Michigan. Neither of these are a perfect option. In his annual Reddit AMA Wednesday, Gates was asked why he has bought so much farmland. I had heard this in the past, but didn't give it much thought. The transitional land he owns in Arizona is reportedly being built into a suburb. He created the pledge in 2010 with his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, and his close friend and Berkshire Hathaway CEO, Warren Buffett. Bill Gates was right when he sold his own Microsoft stock to diversify through Cascade in 1994. Since his divorce, it is unclear how the assets were split up between the couple. In a March 2021 "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, Gates was asked why he had purchased so much farmland. Gates and his wife, Melinda, own 242,000-acres across the U.S., according to The Land Report.. Gates' farmland includes 69,071-acres in Louisiana, 47,927-acres in Arkansas, 25,750-acres in Arizona, and 20,588 in Nebraska, and property in 14 other states, the magazine reported. The report states that Gates has 70,000 acres of land in North Louisiana where they grow soybeans, corn . The major cash crops are field beans, sugar beets, corn and wheat. NOW WATCH: Bill Gates has a net worth of over $96 billion here's how he makes and spends his money, his close friend and Berkshire Hathaway CEO, Warren Buffett, he'll sell what he owns as money goes towards the foundation. We invest in the farms to raise productivity. February 27, 2023, 11:49 AM. 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. While the Gates' own a lot of farmland, nonfarmers own 283 million acres of farmland throughout the U.S. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Contacted by Reuters, a BlackRock spokesperson said: BlackRock is not buying single-family homes and is not competing with individuals to purchase houses in America.. You can find his previous stuff at Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough. Who owns the most property in Detroit Michigan? Other examples can be seen (here), (here). According to a 2021 report from the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Agriculture Statistics Service, there are 895,300,000 acres of farmland in the United States. (AP). What Asset Class Is Farmland Considered To Be? By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider In April 2022, conspiracy theorists insinuated that billionaire Bill Gates was buying up "the majority" of American farmland as part of a diabolical plot to cause widespread food shortages. - Farmland Riches where is bill gates' farmland in michigan. How old do you have to be to strip? In 2020, there were 166 such funds globally, nearly a 9x increase from only 19 in 2005. NOW WATCH: Bill Gates has a net worth of over $96 billion here's how he makes and spends his money. Gates appears to be pro-chicken farming. To put that into perspective, if you put all of the land that Gates owns into one place (his holdings are spread throughout the country), you'd cover an area about a quarter the size of Rhode Island. Gates' interest in farmland is still strong. This is especially helpful if, say, the stock market crashed, and you had a more aggressive stock portfolio (or any large stake in stock at all). Instead, he mostly acts like a landlord and allows professional farmers to keep doing their thingeven if those practices are ruinous to the environment. AcreTrader is one of the most well-established farmland crowdfunding platforms out there. In January 2021, Bill Gates became the largest owner of farmland in the United States. Gates' interest in farmland is still strong. Recently, Bill Gates has purchased 300,000 acres of farmland, you would think that buying all of the farmland would be bigger news than Elon Musk buying all of Twitter (here). Some experts have pointed to Gatess well-known sustainability and green tech initiatives as a possible reason, but during an earlier Reddit AMA in 2021, Gates said, my investment group chose to do this. Toxic chemicals known as PFAS, or per- and, 2 hours, 2 minutes. District of Columbia Bill and Melinda Gates also cracked the Land Report's Top 100 Landowners for the first time coming in at number 49. Wonderful Company cofounders Stewart and Lynda Resnick (net worth: $7.1 billion) ranked number three . What is the most profitable crop in Michigan? At the turn of this century, Chinese owners owned about 192,000 acres of farmland in the U.S., according to the USDA. The old saying about land is they aren't making any more of it. Supply and demand? Gates and his investment team own more than 240,000 acres, as reported by OKeefe, including 2,167 acres in Michigan. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. In 1999, Cascade Investment made an interesting decision: Gates sold over 7 million personal Microsoft shares to further diversify his portfolio. Is Gladstone Land Corp (LAND) A Good Investment? Thus, before we answer these questions, we are going to provide a brief summary of his financial history. as well as other partner offers and accept our. 801 3rd St. S There were 895.3. for different crops that have been gene edited to be pest-proof, flood proof, disease proof, and climate change-resistant. The tech billionaire owns 69,071 acres in Louisiana, 47,927 acres in Arkansas, and 20,588 acres in Nebraska. ", Gates responded at the time, "My investment team bought the farmland. Thetech billionaire owns69,071 acres inLouisiana,47,927 acres inArkansas, and 20,588 acres inNebraska. Gates believes that subsistence farmers and impoverished peoples will be among the most affected by climate change. 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. Gates has farmlands in Louisiana, Nebraska, Georgia and other areas. These posts were flagged as part of Instagrams efforts to combat false news and misinformation. North Dakotans are outraged as Bill Gates, the largest private farmland owner in the US, apparently buys a $13.5 million potato farm Dominick Reuter Jun 24, 2022, 8:13 AM Leon Neal/Getty. It is unclear how cheap biofuels can be but if they are cheap it can solve the aviation and truck emissions." Back in January, US magazine The Land Report revealed that Bill and Melinda Gates have amassed the largest portfolio of private farmland in the US, comprising an estimated 242,000 acres. "I've gotten a big earful on this from clear across the state, it's not even from that neighborhood," Doug Goehring, the state's agricultural commissioner, told a local NBC affiliate this week. An archived version of the tweet can be found (archive.ph/8Tq36). 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. It is unclear how cheap biofuels can be but if they are cheap it can solve the aviation and truck emissions.". 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 . Conservatives are vowing to never drink Heineken again after it was recently revealed that billionaire Bill Gates acquired a minority stake in the popular brewing company. Social media post scrambles the facts on high egg prices," Jan. 13, 2023, Various searches on Google and Nexis, accessed Jan. 24, 2023, The Land Report, "Farmer Bill," Jan. 11, 2021, The Land Report, "Bill Gates is About to Change the Way America Farms," Winter 2020 magazine issue, The Land Report 100, Winter 2021 magazine issue, The Land Report 100, Winter 2022 magazine issue, Email exchange, Eric OKeefe, editor, The Land Report, Jan. 23, 2023, Email exchange, Gates Ventures, Jan. 24, 2023, GatesNotes, "Future of food," March 18, 2013, GatesNotes, "What the plow and lab-grown meat tell us about innovation," Feb. 27, 2019, GatesNotes, "Is there enough meat for everyone?," April 21, 2015, GatesNotes, "Why I would raise chickens," June 7, 2016, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Consumer Price Index," Jan. 12, 2023, U.S. Department of Agriculture, "Avian influenza outbreaks reduced egg production, driving prices to record highs in 2022," Jan. 11, 2023, U.S. Department of Agriculture, "2022-2023 Confirmations of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Commercial and Backyard Flocks," Jan. 18, 2023, U.S. Department of Agriculture, "Avian Influenza," Jan. 18, 2023, U.S. Department of Agriculture, "Farms and Land in Farms, 2021 Summary," February 2022, Reddit, Bill Gates Ask Me Anything, March 19, 2021, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "Agricultural Development," accessed Jan. 24, 2023, Associated Press, "Bill Gates owns a lot of American farmland, but not the majority," May 2, 2022, Vox, "The controversy over Bill Gates becoming the largest private farmland owner in the US," June 11, 2021, NBC News, "McDonald's french fries, carrots, onions: all of the foods that come from Bill Gates farmland," June 8, 2021, Reuters, "Fact Check-Bill Gates doesnt own most U.S. farmland; BlackRock doesnt own most houses," May 5, 2022, CNBC, "Bill Gates and Richard Branson are betting lab-grown meat might be the food of the future," March 23, 2018, CNBC, "Bill Gates bets on growing demand for sustainable foods," May 14, 2015, Bloomberg News, "Lab-Grown Meat Backed by Gates, Tyson Foods Faces U.S. You either had to directly buy the land, pony up millions to participate in a fund or purchase farmland via a REIT. 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. 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 Washington, DC 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.. Farmland originally appeared on Benzinga.com. The mogul's holdings include large tracts in Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, California, and about a dozen other states. Gates said during a Reddit AMA: My investment group chose to do this. Essentially, by year 2030, the estimated results of what carbon emissions (and their, Eradicate major diseases such as polio, malaria, and HIV, Reduce child death by half across the developing countries in Africa, Educate and empower small-holder farmers through mobile banking, Featured in the agricultural side of their plan is a strategy for. The agriculture sector is important. 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. 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. Bill Gates is buying up the majority of American farmland and BlackRock is buying the majority of single-family houses but I'm supposed to believe the biggest threat to us is Elon Musk buying Twitter? one Twitter user wrote (here). The total portfolio of farmland is worth well over $700 million. The tweet had gathered over 215,000 likes at the time of writing. He owns 242,000 acres, which is equivalent to the area of Fannin County GA. All rights reserved. The Land Reportmagazine 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. Across the nation, Gates' affiliates . Gates, currently the sixth-richest person in the world, has a net worth of $111 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In January 2021, Bill Gates became the largest owner of farmland in the United States. the Gates Foundation answers the top ten questions they received, and they admitted that they didnt think it was fair that their family had so much global influence. No one but Bill Gates knows that answer. Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. St. Petersburg, FL Bill Gates and conspiracy theories go together like peanut butter and jelly. 20006, Florida Gates' achievement, according to the report, is that he's largest private owner of farmland in the US. Conspiracy theorists claimed last year that the Microsoft founder was buying up farmland in the U.S. in order to starve Americans for an unknown reason, Snopes said, after researchers said in. The Gates Foundation has seen steady success and growth since their launch, funding science, research, agriculture and education. 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. Why Is Bill Gates Buying So Much Farmland? 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). 11 Jan. 2021, https://landreport.com/2021/01/bill-gates-americas-top-farmland-owner/. Check out:How To Invest In Real Estate With $100. In 2000, the new Gates foundation launched with Bill, Melinda, and Warren Buffet on the trustee board. Farmland is what is known as an alternative asset an investment that can grow wealth outside of the stock market. 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. With over 242,000 acres of farmland, Bill Gates is America's biggest farmland owner, and his ownership may be connected to climate change and plant-based meat substitutes. Read also:Which Billionaire Owns The Most Land In The U.S.? Gates and his investment team own more than 240,000 acres, as reported by O'Keefe, including 2,167 acres in Michigan. The figure cited by The Land Report was subsequently reported by major news outlets including Business Insider and Forbes (here), (here). 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. Nov 14, 2022. It isless than .1% of all US farmland because the ownership is so diverse. LIVE OAK, Fla. -- The investment company that manages the wealth of the world's richest man, Bill Gates, has been acquiring gobs of farmland in north Florida the past two years . Mr. Gates owns about 97,934 hectares, accounting for about 0.03% of . Since it works as an investment for him, it also includes the benefits of using land as an . The . 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 . 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. The financial crisis later in that same decade prompted an explosion of investments into farmland when monetary safe havens became scarce. Heres why.," Jan. 10, 2023. Amazing, if truebut its extremely not. 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. Is Farmland Partners (FPI) A Good Investment? This article will go into detail about how much land Bill Gates owns and why he owns so much. Roman Catholic Church: 70 million hectares The largest landowner in the world is not a major oil magnate or a real estate investor. RELATED: What Bill Gates has to do with livestock, lab-grown meat, RELATED: Eggflation? No, its the Roman Catholic Church. Download free guide with advice for beginners. AcreTrader has carved out a niche for themselves that has led to rapid market dominance. Official govt docs expose Michelle Obamas 14 year history as a man., "Woody Harrelsons 60 seconds in the middle of his monologue was cut out of the edits released after the show., BREAKING Trump preps Marines to stop presidential coup.. as well as other partner offers and accept our. Gates also owned up to the various failures in their initiatives, and admitted that they try their best to leverage the expertise and wisdom from the community leaders present in the areas they aid. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider 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. Farmland in am. Agfundernews.com, a website about agricultural investments, reported in 2021 that Gates' investments were part of a broader trend that started after the financial crisis of 2008, as investors looked for reliable returns. 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. 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. Prior to this in 1999, Bill sold off tons of Microsoft stock to diversify. In fact, in June of 2022 he secured an additional 2,100 acres of farmland in North Dakota for roughly $13.5 million. 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. Perhaps Bill Gates is looking to test out his GMO seeds. Bill Gates (AP Images) Bill Gates is buying up America's farmland. One of the most prevalent claims related to Gates and the potential for food shortages is that the billionaire owns a suspicious amount of farmland in the United States. Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates owns a majority of America's farmland. Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. What they are doing locking up land, not just private land, but in Wilderness Areas, National anything to do with land, Conservation programs that literally pay farmers, dairymen, etc. 2021. While private companies and corporations are increasing . However, this practice of buying up agricultural land predates Bill Gates and has been a popular investment for the super-rich since at least the early 2000s. Chicken nuggets and cream cheese grow in trays in a South Side lab. There isn't some grand scheme involved - in fact, all these decisions are made by a professional investment team.. While BlackRock does not directly own single-family houses, as the worlds largest asset manager (here), it owns stock in companies that do. . As we learned above, in most farmland investment situations, the farmland owner leases their land to tenant farmers, who usually live on and work the land. Gates is not the only billionaire on The Land Report 's list of top private farmland owners. According to OKeefe, Gates isnt the only one making moves on the farmland market, especially as farm real estate values nationwide increased 7% from 2020 to $3,390 per acre. Pregnancy tests include a hidden Plan B pill. The total portfolio of farmland is worth well over $700 million. Then, on Tuesday, the North Dakota attorney general's office sent a letter to the Red River Trust notifying a trustee, Peter Headley, of a Depression-era rule barring companies, LLCs, and trusts from farming and ranching activities in the state. The Michigan State University shooter is a 21-year-old man named Lynn Dee Walker. The timeline of events leading to the shortages, claim multiple Instagram posts, goes like this: "2013: Bill Gates invests (in) plant-based eggs, poultry, and meat", "2021: Bill Gates becomes the largest private farmland owner in the U.S.", "2021-2023: Mass chicken and egg shortages hit American farms", The Gateway Pundit, a conservative website, shared a similar claim. "Those people are upset, but there are others that are just livid about this.". (here). That's a ginormous deal, one that pencils out to almost $12,000 per acre for a whole lot of acres. Prime soils and the moderating, Best Strip Clubs For 18 And Over in Detroit, Michigan. Today, Bill Gates owns 242,000 acres of farmland in 19 states. Why doesnt everyone just invest in farmland then? In fact, in June of 2022 he secured an additional 2,100 acres of farmland in North Dakota for roughly $13.5 million. 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. By 2019, the USDA says foreign ownership of U.S. acres exceeded 35.2 million acres, a 60 percent increase from the decade prior. If youve been on the fence about getting into farmland, maybe now is the time to reconsider. Oversight," June 15, 2018, The Chicago Tribune, "Chicken nuggets and cream cheese grow in trays in a South Side lab. FILE - Bill Gates attends a discussion during the 'Munich Security Conference' in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. In the Reddit AMA, he also said he'll sell what he owns as money goes towards the foundation. 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. One main benefit to alt assets especially for those whore heavily invested in the stock market is you can diversify your overall investment portfolio outside the NYSE/NASDAQ. In this short period of time, there was a proliferation in funds that were specifically focused on farmland investing. He has also been aproponent of chicken farming. What Land Does Bill Gates Own In Michigan? Bill Gates is Americas biggest farmer, his 269000 acres farmland grows potatoes and carrots. Today, Bill Gates owns 242,000 acres of farmland in 19 states. Amazon founder and chairman Jeff Bezos has amassed 420,000 acres in recent years. His 242,000 acres of farmland stretch across 18 states from Washington to Florida,. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops delivered daily to your inbox. Hint, It's Not Bill Gates, Bezos-Backed Startup Lets You Become A Landlord With $100, Try the tool that will help you invest smarter, faster, and better, Bill Gates Finally Explains Why He's Buying So Much U.S. According to lovemoney.com, the church owns more than 70 million hectares.