AFRICA. AGRA was established in 2006 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. However, the land held only amasses 1 percent of the total acres of farmland in the United States. Malone's 2.2 million acres are largely located in Maine, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming and include profitable cattle ranches. African smallholders are often isolated, unable to get credit or find buyers for their produce. But the details are murky, and there is no evidence that the billionaires farmland-buying spree is driven by anything more than a desire to have a well-diversified portfolio. Most notably, in 2017, the Gates-affiliated Mt. 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. Their largest holdings are 69,071 acres in Louisiana, 47,927 acres in . Forty percent of all children in sub-Saharan Africa are stunted. Most likely, it is just one more asset in Gates vast portfolio, quietly appreciating in value while the billionaire himself remains at arms length. Sales of more than a thousand acres are blue-moon events, OKeefe noted, so this one stood out. Were predicting a decline of 20 to 40 per cent in rainfall across West Africa, says David Sarfo Ameyaw of AGRA. The project isnt yet funded. BlackRock is sometimes confused w/ Blackstone, which owned Invitation Homes. The comments below have not been moderated. Bill Gates is well-known for building Microsoft, but it's a lesser-known fact that he's also the biggest private landowner in the US. *According to figures compiled by The Land Report in 2019. Larson sees to it that Gates wealth is sensibly, even conservatively, invested. The land, most of which is non-irrigated, was transferred to Red River Trust on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 of last year. Bill Gates now owns the most farmland of anyone in the United States, according to a recent report from The Land Report . AGRAs methods are one way to do so. The investment companys single largest acquisition of farmland came in 2017 when it paid $520 million to purchase 61 properties from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). Gates has been buying land like it's going out of style. 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. Although the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is not directly connected with Cascade or its investments, it also has a farmland initiative: Gates Ag One, established in the Greater St. Louis area, with a mission to help 'smallholder farmers adapt to climate change and make food production in low- and middle-income countries more productive, resilient, and sustainable. The property is currently worth $130.8 million. Bill Gates owns a minimum of 242,000 acres of U.S. farmland in Washington, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, California and multiple other states 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 . By the end of this century there will be 4 billion more people on Earth - and 3 billion of these extra souls . North Dakota Farmland Purchase. One of the Gates' favorite vacation homes is in the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana. 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. Get independent news alerts on natural cures, food lab tests, cannabis medicine, science, robotics, drones, privacy and more. Mr. Africas farmers have a lot of problems, but one of the biggest is poor soil. North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring told KFYR that public reaction to the purchase has been largely negative. Thanks for contacting us. 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. 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 title for largest landholdings overall goes to US businessman John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, who owns 2.2million acres. Why does Bill Gates now own more than 240,000 acres across the country? Slectionnez Grer les paramtres pour grer vos prfrences. Bill Gates is one of the richest men in the world, but his wealth pales in comparison to that of other billionaires. 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. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. One of the more colorful theories pertains to Gatess strange interest in U.S. agriculture, with rumors that the former Microsoft CEO owns upward of 80 percent of farmland in the United States. What is the Venus-Jupiter conjunction and how can you view it? Many stories focused on Gates longstanding interest in climate change and sustainability and suggested those concerns might be driving the land purchases. The booming population of Africa looms over his foundation's latest global survey. 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. Artificial sweetener erythritol linked to heart attacks and strokes, Mediterranean diet may prevent cognitive issues for people with MS, Strange quantum event happens once every 10 billion chances, Aye-aye and possums top list of mammals we should focus on saving, Polar bears caught feeding on a whale carcass in breathtaking photos, The amazing ways electricity in your body shapes you and your health, How AI chatbots in search engines will completely change the internet, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, many African countries have been losing nutrients from their soils, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. As of 2020, industry reports show he owned about 0.027% of U.S. farmland. This parcel apparently makes up the bulk of the billionaire couples farmland holdings. Rising temperatures could also shrink by up to 80 per cent the areas where beans will grow. ET First Published: March 10, 2021 at 8: . Banda has also been able to buy an ox cart and pay school fees for one of her children. 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. Making farming a business is the way to push African agriculture, says Robert Guei of the FAO in Rome, Italy. 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. AGRA farms are key suppliers, says Gudmunds. There isn't some grand scheme involved - in fact all these decisions are made by a professional investment team.". Banda is one of 1.75 million African smallholder farmers, 40 per cent of them women, enrolled in a $180-million five-year programme run by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. Gates owns a 4.5 acre ranch in Wellington, Florida. En cliquant sur Accepter tout, vous acceptez que Yahoo et nos partenaires traitent vos informations personnelles et utilisent des technologies telles que les cookies pour afficher des publicits et des contenus personnaliss, et des fins de mesure des publicits et des contenus, dtude des audiences et de dveloppement de produit. Some are near cities and might end up having other uses.". An entity with ties to billionaire Bill Gates bought 2,100 acres of potato farmland in northern North Dakota prompting the states top prosecutor to intervene after complaints from local residents. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Gates, the billionaire tech mogul and philanthropist whose net worth was pegged by Bloomberg at $113 billion, has quietly amassed nearly 270,000 acres of farmland across the country, according to the Associated Press. This means biosludge from human waste will be spread on farms to grow more GMOs all to save the planet.. Darren lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes/edits about sci-fi and how our world works. The billionaire cant seem to do anything without drawing the conspiratorial ire of online netizens. And yet, he can't seem to wrestle free of the internet's villainous conspiracies against him. BlackRock is sometimes confused w/ Blackstone, which 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. Bill and Melinda bought this massive mansion in the Coachella Valley for $12.5 million in 1999. 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While the Gates' own a lot of farmland, nonfarmers own 283 million acres of farmland throughout the U.S. The Gates Foundation's trust invests in the same companies it serves through its development programs, including Monsanto, BASF, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever, and many others. The nearby community of Buckeye has grown more than tenfold in the last 20 years. When fully developed the area could be home to 200,000 residents and be similar in size to the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, The Land Report said. What made the difference was a boost in the productivity of her land. Behind Gates in terms of investment in farmland are the cofounders of the Wonderful Company, Stewart and Lynda Resnick, with 190,000 acres. We've received your submission. The risk is large. Large investors usually work with expert advisors to help them acquire and manage their agricultural holdings. 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 says. Why Bill Gates Keeps Buying Up So Much Farmland, Particle Accelerator Reveals Beginning of Time, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. 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 a U.S. Department of Agriculture report from February that showed there were more than 895 million total acres of farmland in the country last year. Its soil health programme has set up 9000 dealers within 5 kilometres of farmers to sell them the supplies they need. Today, Bill Gates owns 242,000 acres of farmland in 19 states. The farmland that Gates owns is located in 19 states. The threat of climate change means smallholders must keep adapting if they are to survive and prosper, says Guei. 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. "In terms of the very rich I think they should pay a lot more in taxes and they should give away their wealth over time. Wife is shocked after husband of 15 years asks for permission to have an affair: 'I don't know what to do', My Daily Horoscope: What does March 2nd hold for MY star sign? Amazing, if truebut its extremely not. Bill Gates does not own the majority of U.S. farmland. Wonderful Company cofounders Stewart and Lynda Resnick (net worth: $7.1 billion) ranked number three . The portion of land that isn't owned by farmers varies widely regionally; in some areas, almost 80 percent of agricultural land is held by non-operators. Nous, Yahoo, faisons partie de la famille de marques Yahoo. For now, though, all that smart city talk is more than a little premature. According to the Winter 2020 issue of The Land Report, a quarterly magazine that tracks U.S. land sales, Bill and Melinda Gates now own 242,000 acres of farmland worth "more than $690 million . (According to The Land Report, Gates owns about 27,000 acres of non-agricultural land, in addition to his farm holdings.). The financial crisis later in that same decade prompted an explosion of investments into farmland when monetary safe havens became scarce. 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. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File ), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. A new coalition of farmland owners, operators and environmental groups is working to come up with verifiable standards for sustainable farming. 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. The same Gates Foundation which is behind every aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic from financing much of the WHO budget, to investing in favored vaccine-makers like Moderna, is engaged in a major project in Africa which is destroying traditional small farmer production of essential food crops in favor of monoculture crops and introduction of expensive chemical fertilizers and GMO seeds that are . Gates' farmland now totals 242,000 acres. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was launched in 2000 and has $46.8 billion in assets (December 2018). 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