the Land Report published. Many stories focused on Gates longstanding interest in climate change and sustainability and suggested those concerns might be driving the land purchases. Climate change is happening, and we must use all best practices to allow farmers to adapt. Through Sierra Pacific, the family owns some 2 million acres in California and Washington. How much land does he own? The farmland that Gates owns is located in 19 states. The company is the largest producer of wool in Australia. BlackRock also suggested it was being confused for the similarly-named investment management firm Blackstone, which until recently owned Invitation Homes. The moguls holdings include large tracts in Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, California, and about a dozen other states. P4P aims to link the smallholder farmers explicitly into the process. 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. The . According to Bruce Sherrick, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, about 60 percent of row-crop farmland in the Midwest is leased. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was launched in 2000 and has $46.8 billion in assets (December 2018). The trustee of Red River Trust is Peter Headley, who identifies himself on his LinkedIn page as head of agriculture investment management at Investment Management Co. A 2020 article by NFU Mutual Charitable Trust claimed that Headley once headed an entity called Cottonwood, which was described as an ag-investment platform for Bill and Melinda Gates. In 2018 Gates reportedly bought about 16,000 acres in his home state of Washington, including a 14,500-acre tract in the Horse Heaven Hills region that was purchased for nearly $171 million from an insurance company that had paid $75million for it in 2010. It was previously owned by Agriculture Company of America, a real estate investment trust acquired by CPPIB in 2013. Behind Gates in terms of investment in farmland are the cofounders of the Wonderful Company, Stewart and Lynda Resnick, with 190,000 acres. North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring told KFYR that public reaction to the purchase has been largely negative. ; That makes him the largest landowner in the U.S. Stats show agriculture is a pretty good investment for . Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. We invest in the farms to raise productivity. Whether or not Gates personally directed Cottonwood Ag to get involved in the Leading Harvest project, the move makes both environmental and business sense. The area off Interstate 10, called Belmont, has space for 80,000 homes as well as more than 4,000 acres for schools, offices, and stores; and 3,400 acres of open space. Bill Gates is one of the richest men in the world, but his wealth pales in comparison to that of other billionaires. For five generations, the Reed Family has owned and operated the logging company Green Diamond Resource Co. 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. The group is called Leading Harvest, and the Gates-linked Cottonwood Ag is one of its founding members. Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. For comparison, the state of Rhode Island covers an area of 1,214 square miles. 5. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Social media users are falsely claiming that Gates owns the majority of U.S. farmland. Why is Bill Gates buying up farmland across America? This high-tech metropolis could be both a breeding and testing ground for futuristic technologies.. 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. ', Cascade did not elaborate on the agricultural land purchases other than to say that the company is 'very supportive of sustainable farming. Michelle, has two of its largest vineyards in that AVA: Canoe Ridge Vineyard and Columbia Crest Vineyard. Since 2016, Gates has led Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a venture-capital fund that invests in clean-technology startups. 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Farmers groups, agriculture ministers, scientists and financiers met this week at the African Green Revolution Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This process is made more efficient by inoculating the seeds with the bacteria. AFRICA. People are going to pay attention to what Bill is doing, Sherrick says. North Dakota Farmland Purchase. The largest parcel, a proposed 24,800-acre development known as Belmont, might someday contain 80,000 homes, along with offices, retail, industrial and logistics facilities. Now, its latest report says the scheme is achieving its aims. THREE years ago, Lucy Banda and her six children lived in a two-room house made of soil dampened and tamped into a dome, with just one bedroom and a living room. Malone made his fortune as a media tycoon, building the company Tele-Communications, Inc, or TCI, and acting as its CEO before selling it to AT&T for $50 billion in 1999. The groups founding members are expected to spearhead the rollout of the new standards on their own lands. 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, Gates longstanding interest in climate change. The tech mogul, who is the fourth richest person in the world with a net worth of $121billion, according to Forbes, has quietly built up a massive agriculture portfolio. Renmatix provides an innovative process that is an exciting pathway to pursue., He has not elaborated on his plans yet, but Gates will apparently use plant waste and biomass from his farmland to develop biofuels. Gates owns a 4.5 acre ranch in Wellington, Florida. Wonderful Company cofounders Stewart and Lynda Resnick (net worth: $7.1 billion) ranked number three . His environmental bent also extends to farming. She then joined the AGRA programme (see main story), who put her forward as a model participant. AGRA has also appointed 2800 inspectors to monitor soil health and advise farmers on how much fertiliser they need. He assigned his research team to dig a little deeper. 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 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. It has been very fulfilling for me and is my full time job," Gates continued. But, Gates may not be the largest private-farmland owner for much longer. from February that showed there were more than 895 million total acres of farmland in the country last year. 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. Kroenke is married to Ann Walkton Kroenke, an heiress to the Wal-Mart fortune. 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. The financial crisis later in that same decade prompted an explosion of investments into farmland when monetary safe havens became scarce. It isless than .1% of all US farmland because the ownership is so diverse. That can mean better yields with decreased use of fertilizers and pesticides. Cost and bad infrastructure have long prevented farmers from fertilising their fields, so many African countries have been losing nutrients from their soils (see map above). Red River Trust filed paperwork with the office of the secretary of state of North Dakota on Feb. 15 of this year. The Microsoft cofounder and philanthropist Bill Gates owns 242,000 acres of farmland in the US, making him the largest private-farmland owner, an analysis by The Land Report found in January. as well as other partner offers and accept our. And thats where the land purchases come in. 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. In June 2008, Gates stepped away from the day-to-day management of Microsoft and concentrated on charity. Farms also have a role in fighting climate change. In 2008 it launched a programme called Purchase for Progress (P4P) that targets smallholder suppliers, including those in 15 African countries. The region west of Phoenix is booming. After buying it for $2 million in 1988, Gates spent $63 million and seven years in building the 66,000 sq ft estate. When Ted Turner bought his Flying D Ranch in Montana in 1989, that was his personal passion, OKeefe says. 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. In this excerpt, Young claims that the founder of Microsoft said that 3 billion people need to be eliminated from earth, starting with Africans: "For the purpose of sterilisation and population control, there are too many people on the planet we need to get rid of. Mr. Gates responded: "I own less than 1/4000 of the farmland in the US. 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.. That immediately set off alarm bells, OKeefe says. The billionaire cant seem to do anything without drawing the conspiratorial ire of online netizens. ', Last year the couple bought an oceanfront home in Del Mar, near San Diego, California, for $43million, The six-bedroom Del Mar home boasts a ten-person jacuzzi and a swimming pool overlooking the ocean, Gates, pictured last June during a concert for COVID-19 relief, purchased the San Diego property just as the pandemic took hold in March, In 2017, Gates reportedly bought a significant stake in 24,800 acres of land outside Phoenix, Arizona, which he planned to turn into a 'smart city' with 200,000 residents. 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. Amazing, if truebut its extremely not. Theres also a proposal to build a new interstate linking Phoenix to Las Vegas. OKeefe knew Gates had been acquiring farmland for years, mostly through various Cascade subsidiaries. She is thinking of buying land to build a house for renting, and a truck to allow her to trade her merchandise more widely. Jumbuck Pastoral Company is owned by the MacLachlan family. In the future, farmers will be paid for sustainability, says Sherrick, who sits on the groups board. Another is the possibility of cost competitive biofuels. Bill Gates helped usher in the digital revolution at Microsoft, and has spent the decades since exploring - and investing in - innovative solutions to some of the world's toughest problems . In Australia tracts in Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, California, and the Gates-linked Cottonwood Ag is of! Of Microsoft and concentrated on charity the rollout of the richest men in the country year! Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group Wal-Mart fortune happening, and must. That public reaction to the purchase has been very fulfilling for me and is my full time job, Gates! 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