These allow investors to get stared with as little as $10,000. Late last year, Eric OKeefe was researching a mysterious recent purchase of 14,500 acres of prime Washington state farmland. Why Bill Gates is now the US' biggest farmland owner - New York Post However, these are just estimations. Bill is now the biggest owner of farmland in 2022 a great hedge asset against rising inflation. 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. Cascade leases the majority of its land to farmers and is committed to the safety and sustainability of both its farmland and its people, the spokesperson for Cascade Investment said. 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. Social media users are falsely claiming that Gates owns the majority of U.S. farmland. Bill and Melinda released their latest initiative, Bill Gates Big Bet, where the Foundation states theyre betting on the major success of developing nations within the next 15 years, hoping to see more improvement than at any time in history. So while the tech mogul certainly owns a large constellation of farms, its nowhere close to the majority nationwide. James B. Meigs is the co-host of the How Do We Fix It? podcast and the former editor-in-chief of Popular Mechanics. The burgeoning metropolis of Monterey, population 462, rang a bell, but despite my best efforts, I couldnt connect the dots to anyone whom we had profiled in The Land Report or, for that matter, anyone who was on our watch list. Cows may be given miracle vaccines to help them produce higher quality milk and meat. Thats exactly what I thought. Weve never been one of the big institutional buyers of single family homes, BlackRock, single-family rentals nationwide. 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. The 2,100 acre potato farm adds to his massive portfolio of farm investments. For example, ethanol is a biofuel made from corn, barley, or sorghum and used as a gasoline alternative. Bill Gates is America's biggest owner of private farmland, and his 242,000 acres could be split in his divorce. He said he did so to make the farms "more productive" and "create more jobs," adding that it was his investment team that made the decision. Among the participants in the 13-member Sustainable Agriculture Working Group are Ceres Partners, Hancock Natural Resources Group, The Rohaytn Group, and UBS Farmland Investors. Future crops may be designed to grow better in droughts, heatwaves and withstand disease. Are you interested in investing in farmland? Invest like Bill Gates with the Best North Dakota Farmland In 2018, when 100 Circles sold, it was even better. Mr. Meanwhile, a rep for Gates did highlight to The Post their Leading Harvest initiative, which requires farmland owners to work to continuously improve soil health, biodiversity and water, air and crop quality on their farms.. a Reddit user asked. Although the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has no ties whatsoever to Cascade or its investments, it also has a farmland initiative: Gates Ag One, which has established its headquarters in the Greater St. Louis area. Not surprisingly, one of Leading Harvests other inaugural members is a Cascade entity called Cottonwood Ag Management. 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. To see all exchange delays and terms of use, please see https://www.barchart.com/solutions/terms. However, they told The Land Report that Cascade is very supportive of sustainable farming.. Biofuels are renewable fuel sources that are created from the biomass of animals and plants. These are a few of the reasons why savvy investors have been plowing millions of dollars into farmland on both the Oregon and the Washington sides of the Columbia River Gorge. With all of this recent farmland accumulation, one might think Gates is using this land to research these gene edited super seeds. We need a lot of technologies synthetic meat, energy storage, new ways of making building materials, he wrote. Neither of these are a perfect option. Apply to GLOCALs 2023 program to help advance Latin American agrifoodtech, What is the role of biotech in an ethical food system? Billionaire NFL owner quietly buying up thousands of acres of Illinois Gates personal farmland portfolio is managed by Michael Larson and Cascade Investment. This is part of a broader 269,000-acre land portfolio belonging to the couple and associated entities across 19 US states, with the largest holdings in Louisiana (69,071 acres), Arkansas (47,927 acres), and Arizona (25,750 acres). Credit Chris Janiec at Agri Investor for this eagle-eyed investigating. Currently, no one knows. Partnering with Monsanto to create these super seeds is also part of the plan. It seems like Gates is getting ahead of the curve, relative to future Agri-Tech advances profitability, with his farmland investments. As of 2020, industry reports show he owned about 0.027% of U.S. farmland. Farmland Is Valuable, but Buying It Is Tricky for Fund Investors There wasnt a rock, let alone a pebble, or even a root to be seen in the soil. Bill and Melinda Gates own 70,000 acres of Louisiana farmland; what I am quite confident that Eastwoods character, Steve Everett, would have picked up the stench from this setup a mile off: a $171 million acquisition by an LLC with two employees in a metal-sided building down a dirt road off the Bayou Teche? than 85 million single-family homes in the country, and only around 15 million of those are rentals, Of those rentals, less than a third are owned by non-individual investors, according to. Gates Foundation Buys Land For Farms | PYMNTS.com 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. People are going to pay attention to what Bill is doing, Sherrick says. The billionaire couple, in less than a. According to a press release by the Grand Forks council, Fufeng Group has chosen the town as its first US-based manufacturing facility after a 16-month comprehensive evaluation process, where they are expected to produce 25 million bushels of corn annually. Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, has an alter ego, OKeefe wrote: Farmer Bill, the guy who owns more farmland than anyone else in America., The Land Report scoop made headlines. Farms also have a role in fighting climate change. In addition, over 250,000 farms are so-called factory farms owned, rented, or co-opted by corporations. It was near-perfect timing too, as 2000 would quickly see the infamous tech crash of dot com stocks. Large investors usually work with expert advisors to help them acquire and manage their agricultural holdings. Cascade Investment began purchasing farmland in significant strides in 2013. dvelopper et amliorer nos produits et services. What Returns Should You Expect From Farmland Investing? All told, the 2017 acquisition of AgCoA and the 2018 acquisition of the 100 Circles tract in the Horse Heaven Hills of eastern Washington total an investment in farmland assets of more than $690 million. The Gates Foundation isnt the entity utilizing the land, but rather just Bills family office. Gates, in an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit last year, said his investment group was behind the purchases, and suggested it was linked to seed and biofuel development. from February that showed there were more than 895 million total acres of farmland in the country last year. Just 2% was donated. Strike three, right? 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. Today, the Belmont tract remains mostly empty desert. Are you interested in investing in farmland? Gates, a well-known philanthropist concerned with food insecurity in developing nations, could be betting that the next advancements in seed technology will be furthered on American farms. Si vous ne souhaitez pas que nos partenaires et nousmmes utilisions des cookies et vos donnes personnelles pour ces motifs supplmentaires, cliquez sur Refuser tout. However, Bill Malone is an American billionaire businessman who owns over 2.2 million acres of farms, ranches, and forests in the United States. We've received your submission. The acreage sits off Interstate 10, and it is poised to be accessible by Interstate 11, a proposed highway that would traverse 5 miles of the 40-square-mile holding. Bill and Melinda Gates, who recently announced they're getting divorced and are dividing their assets, are deeply invested in American agriculture. Minutes later, a terse response arrived: Actually, when it comes to the extensive farmland portfolio of Bill and Melinda Gates, the question should be, Ever hear of Michael Larson? For the last 25 years, the Claremont McKenna College alum has managed the Gateses personal portfolio as well as the considerable holdings of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates owns a ton of farmland in the United Statesas in, about 270,000 acres. 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. And its headquarters was in you guessed it Monterey, Louisiana. Bill Gates was right when he sold his own Microsoft stock to diversify through Cascade in 1994. The day before he went to prison, Ebbers sold Angelina for $32 million. For related content and insights from industry experts, sign up for Successful Farming newsletters. Weve never been one of the big institutional buyers of single family homes, BlackRock said in response to one tweet. Cascade employees almost never speak to the press. Adding to the confusion, Blackstone was once a major investor in BlackRock, but sold off its stake in the 1990s. 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. The same logic likely holds for Gates Arizona acquisitions. 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,. There are over two million individual farms in the United States. 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 White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia, said he has concerns about Gates controlling . New seeds can reduce water use but some areas wont be able to farm as much.. This parcel which apparently makes up the bulk of the Gatess farmland holdings had previously belonged to Agriculture Company of America, a real estate investment trust acquired by CPIBB in 2013. Call it a hunch, but the story did not jibe. And the average size of a farm is about 444 acres., The typical family-owned farm makes about $69,000 in profits annually., However, due to climate change, international political tensions, tariff wars and changing consumer diets, family-run farms have struggled to profit. 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BlackRock also does not own the majority of the countrys 80 million single-family homes. Bill Gates currently owns over 268,000 acres of American farmland spread out over 19 states. It, too, was sold, on September 25, 2006, the day before Ebbers began serving his sentence at the Oakdale Federal Correctional Institution. Angelo Merendino for The New York Times. , an annual survey of the nations largest landowners. Thats a ginormous deal, one that pencils out to almost $12,000 per acre for a whole lot of acres. Bill left most of his professional work at Microsoft at this time to work with Melinda and the foundation. How can this inform our personal investment decisions? Some are near cities and might end up having other uses.". About 60% of the farmers in Africa and Asia, almost 3 billion people, are poverty-stricken subsistence farmers. He had accumulated more than 269,000 acres of farmland across 18 states in less than a decade. 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. In North Dakota, the Pembina and Walsh County farmland purchased by Red River Trust in 2021 is leased to the Campbell family which has a long history of operating these Pembina and Walsh County farmlands, which has continued under the ownership of Red River Trust.. But a Gates spokesperson said in a statement on Friday that the claim that hes bought the majority of the nations farmland is false, pointing to. And Eastern Washington has some of the richest, most expensive farmland in the country. He hopes plant-based substitutes will allow us to cut down on meat eating while still enjoying the taste of meat.. According to a 2014 profile of Larson in the Wall Street Journal, these investments include a substantial stake in AutoNation, hospitality interests such as the Charles Hotel in Cambridge and the Four Seasons in San Francisco, and at least 100,000 acres of farmland in California, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, and other states . 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. It aims to help poor farmers, especially in Africa and South Asia, get the tools, technologies, and resources they need to lift themselves out of poverty. If each acre can produce more food, thats good news for farmers. Much like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation uses science and technology to achieve a number of worthy goals including transitioning millions of people out of poverty, improving peoples health and well-being, and ensuring that all people have access to opportunities necessary to succeed in school and in life Cascades farmland holdings also aim to further laudable objectives. And thats where the land purchases come in. Or, have more control over the resources we all use and need. 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. With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. The company also took to Twitter to reject the false narrative. Pessimistic conspiracy theories abound, but Bill Gates, America's largest farmland owner, is born from non-salacious and pragmatic reasons. Prior to this in 1999, Bill sold off tons of Microsoft stock to diversify. Gates has been asked about his farmland purchases before. The firm is a shareholder in plant-based protein companiesBeyond MeatandImpossible Foods, as well as agricultural equipment makerJohn Deere. Farmlands will only become more automated in the future. There were 895.3 million acres of farmland in America in 2021, according to a 2022 reportfrom the Department of Agriculture. And the rich are now buying up vast swathes of farmland. Futures: at least 10 minute delayed. Returns from farmland have actually outpaced the stock market in recent years with significantly less volatility. 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. Investors bought a record 18.4% of the homes purchased in the fourth quarter of 2021 three-quarters of which were single-family homes, according to real estate firm RedFin. 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. While private companies and corporations are increasing. Most notably, in 2017, the Gates-affiliated Mt. While he owns a significant amount, it is a relatively small slice of the nations nearly 900 million total farm acres. 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. Why Bill Gates and other wealthy Americans buy farmland | AGDAILY What Asset Class Is Farmland Considered To Be? Since his divorce, it is unclear how the assets were split up between the couple. 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. Meanwhile, American agriculture today is being transformed as farmers employ new technologies and Big Data to help them manage their crops. Farmland is what is known as an alternative asset an investment that can grow wealth outside of the stock market. 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. His portfolio is diversified, in other words. From the beginning, Cascade Investments focused on blue chip defensive stocks, including Four Seasons, Berkshire Hathaway, Coca Cola, and more. In 1994, the Gateses hired the former Putnam Investments bond-fund manager to diversify the couples portfolio away from the Microsoft cofounders 45% stake in the technology giant while maintaining comparable or better returns. Ninety-six percent of everything produced in North Dakota leaves our state, said Goehring. Learn more about fact-checking at AP. The plant-based protein craze will be worth $23.4 billion by 2027. CLAIM: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates owns the majority of Americas farmland and the investment firm BlackRock holds the majority of single family houses in the country. Is Gladstone Land Corp (LAND) A Good Investment? A spokesman for Cascade Investment declined to comment on any of the details associated with these transactions or the Gateses holdings, other than to say that Cascade is very supportive of sustainable farming. Gates is a renowned software developer, international philanthropist, noted business magnate, and investor. His environmental bent also extends to farming. People want to know, Why does Bill Gates want all this land?. I have invested in these farms to make them more productive and create more jobs. 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. The world is running out of oil. According to the St. Louis Business Journal, Gates Ag One will focus on research that helps small-holder farmers adapt to climate change and make food production in low- and middle-income countries more productive, resilient, and sustainable.. Rating: False About this rating Context In April 2022, conspiracy theorists insinuated that billionaire Bill Gates. Given the size and cost of 100 Circles, both of those figures made no sense at all. Committing the resources to launch this all-important standard validates the assertion that Cascade supports sustainable strategies that advance resiliency and efficiency, retain talent, and reduce regulatory burdens. buying an increasing share of the U.S. housing market. Now, Bill Gates adds being the largest, private owner of American farmland to his career achievements. He created the pledge in 2010 with his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, and his close friend and Berkshire Hathaway CEO, Warren Buffett. Either that or I had a screw loose. Top 5 farms with the largest acreage in the U.S. How farmers can maximize the value of forestland, Northeastern Indiana farmland sells for $19,984 per acre. Most of us imagine farmers tilling the soil that has been in their families for generations. 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. While Gates appears . The current best estimate is that the modern world will run out of fossil fuels, and the ability to fuel its global fossil-fuel run infrastructure, by the year 2067. Bill Gates Farmland: Why Is the Billionaire Buying So Much? In January 2021, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched Gates Ag One, a nonprofit charitable firm. Bill Gates has started laying out his plans for creating a smart city in Phoenix, Arizona, science-news outlet Futurism wrote. His idea, like many others, was to diversify his investments across different asset classes. By Tim Gray. While the global climate change initiative is trying to reduce total emissions by the year 2050, the year 2030 is also important. In 1994, Bill Gates opened up his family office, Cascade Investment LLC, with trusted wealth manager Michael Larson. Climate change, rising automation, the ravages of climate change, virulent plant diseases, international politics and changing consumer tastes make it progressively difficult for family-owned farms to operate. retail, office buildings, hotels and apartment complexes, rather than single-family homes, but he declined to provide a breakdown. Bill Gates owns about 400 acres of farmland outside of Malmo, Nebraska, that he rents to a local farmer. In 2020, Gates made headlines for becoming the largest private farmland owner in the U.S. Additionally, these small-scale, developing country farms serve local communities. According to the Journal, they are even discouraged from using Facebook and other social-media platforms. So I took a look at Dun & Bradstreet. The moguls holdings include large tracts in Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, California, and about a dozen other states. 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. He sees Gates involvement even if indirect as crucial in encouraging the industry to embrace the new sustainability standard. Over the next five years, AgCoA acquired more than 100,000 acres in nine states. Should we be worried about a tech giant like Bill Gates amassing this wild amount of land? Since its IPO in 1985, Microsoft has seen continual success. Gates who stepped down from day-to-day involvement with Microsoft in 2008 has long been looking for ways to help the worlds poorest and to address the planets environmental challenges. Well, as with everything in life, there is always a trade-off especially in finance. 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This half-billion-dollar figure corroborated the AgCoA acquisition, and the paper trail led directly to Cascade Investment LLC. Cell ag experts weigh in, Vertical farming should be one instrument in a farmers toolbox, not the whole operation or the farmers competition, Technology is a means, not an end in farming: Key takeaways from Indoor Ag-Con 2023, Digitizing the supply chain drove investment increase in African agrifoodtech in 2022, It will be a year of bust-ups, roll-ups and M&A: VC predictions for agrifoodtech investment, Smoke & mirrors, not worth the extra cost: 50 US farmers speak out on carbon markets, Food & ag corporates prefer to engage with academia, research over startups, according to open innovation report. Farmland investments overseen by Cascade are completely unrelated to the Foundations programs or efforts to advance agricultural development in Africa or anyplace else in the world.. 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. The endowment that funds the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is independently managed by a separate entity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, a spokesperson for Cascade Investment told The Post. While he questioned if cell-cultured meat will ever be economical, he said that plant-based protein makers like Impossible FoodsandBeyond Meat have [a] quality road map and a cost road map that makes them totally competitive., How do you feel about the Gates owning so many of Americas farm acres? Farming is all of a sudden part of the solution and not just part of the problem, Sherrick adds. 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.