Over the last decade, Bill Gates has invested in multiple companies, including Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, that develop plant-based meat alternatives. 2023 Benzinga.com. In fact, in June of 2022 he secured an additional 2,100 acres of farmland in North Dakota for roughly $13.5 million. Gates' 242,000 acres amounts to about 0.03% of the total. What Happened: Gates answered dozens of questions over the course of a few hours during the AMA, including: Why are you buying up so much farmland, do you think this is a problem with billionaire wealth and how much you can disproportionally acquire?, He responded, I own less than 1/4000 of the farmland in the US. "It is not connected to climate. 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. F' off Gates! 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. If Not for Climate, Then Why Is Bill Gates Buying so Much Farmland? AFN, 27 Aug. 2021, https://agfundernews.com/gates-if-not-for-climate-then-why-is-bill-buying-up-so-much-farmland. Accessed 28 Apr. That's a ginormous deal, one that pencils out to almost $12,000 per acre for a whole lot of acres. In fact, Gates is the owner of over. AREA 8 CASH CROPS AND DAIRY Area 8 is the leading cash crop area in Michigan. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. Gates personal farmland portfolio is managed by Michael Larson and Cascade Investment. The Gates Foundation has seen steady success and growth since their launch, funding science, research, agriculture and education. 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. Bill Gates buys farmland in Amish Country. But that's just a portion of the vast holdings Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, own from sea to shining sea. 420,000 acresBill and Melinda Gates prior to their divorce accumulated roughly 270,000 acres of farmland in less than a decade. Accessed 28 Apr. Officially, the general public doesnt know exactly what Bill Gates growing farmland estate is being used for. With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. Document shows Rebekah Jones demonstrated a violation of Floridas Whistleblower Act. Social media post scrambles the facts on high egg prices, Gateway Pundit, "Bill Gates Invested In Artificial Eggs a Decade Before Egg Shortage," Jan. 24, 2023, PolitiFact, "What Bill Gates has to do with livestock, lab-grown meat," May 18, 2020, PolitiFact, "Eggflation? Bill Gates, and the Chinese, are not just buying up farm land for that purpose. TheNew York Post reportsthat public records recently cited by AgWeek reveal that an entity called Red River Trust with links to billionaire Bill Gates recently purchased 2,100 acres of potato farmland in northern North Dakota, prompting state officials to intervene after complaints from local residents. The other major crops oats and forages are mostly fed to livestock on farms in the area. When it comes to alternative assets, there are a few options investors can look at such as real estate, fine art, foreign stocks, cryptocurrencies, even NFTs (verdict still out on them). The Gates have been quietly acquiring farmland through their investment manager, Cascade Investment, for over 10 years. The Consumer Price Index shows chicken prices, including fresh whole chicken and fresh or frozen chicken parts, have increased 11% over the last year. (here). Michigan. Avian flu is highly infectious, can spread rapidly from flock to flock, and can often kill chickens. The publication named Gates the countrys largest private farmland owner in 2020, 2021 and 2022. It reported that as of 2022, Gates owned about 248,000 acres of farmland. Gates is No. Are you ready for alternative proteins made from a volcanic microbe?," March 24, 2020, NPR, "Why Bill Gates Is Investing In Chicken-Less Eggs," June 13, 2013, CNN, "Memphis Meats raised $161 million to grow meat from cells," Jan. 22, 2020, Insider, "Bill Gates and Richard Branson backed a food startup which grows meat in labs," Aug. 23, 2017, CNBC, "How Beyond Meat became a $550 million brand, winning over meat-eaters with a vegan burger that bleeds'," Jan. 21, 2019, Quartz, "Bill Gates headlines an all-star list of investors pumping $75 million into meatless burgers," Aug. 2, 2017, CNBC, "How Impossible Burgers simple vision won hundreds of millions in funding and backing from Bill Gates," March 7, 2019, The Washington Post, "Egg prices havent come down with inflation. However, when you read between the lines with an objective and open mind, one can infer much. I have written several articles on postings related to Big Tech, Social Media and Corporations. It is not connected to climate. While Microsoft took a major hit in the tech crash of 2000, Bill Gates portfolio with Cascade would gain around 40% return in that same year. Plum Creek, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, is the largest private landowner in Michigan after purchasing 650,000 acres in 2005. A Grimmway Farms employee moves a water pipe at one of their carrot farms in the Antelope Valley. This article will go into detail about how much land Bill Gates owns and why he owns so much. 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. As unfounded rumors related to the cause of a yet-to-happen food crisis circulated online, many people started to point fingers at a favorite target of conspiracy theorists, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. 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. Essentially, by year 2030, the estimated results of what carbon emissions (and their effect on the environment) will look like in 2050 will be decided in full. No one but Bill Gates knows that answer. as well as other partner offers and accept our. His . Gates' interest in farmland is still strong. Oct 22, 2014. 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. (here) (here). According to lovemoney.com, the church owns more than 70 million hectares. The mainland Chinese company Sino-Michigan Properties LLC has paid $1.9 million for 200 acres of undeveloped land in Milan, Michigan. All rights reserved. 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. He has invested in multiple companies developing artificial or plant-based alternatives to meat, but he supports chicken farming and agricultural development. He also reportedly owns about 16,000. 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. Their low fees and competitive returns set them apart from many of the other platforms out there. Reuters traced the figure cited by social media posts as the number of acres owned by Bill Gates to The Land Report, which reports on major land ownership in the United States. It isless than .1% of all US farmland because the ownership is so diverse. 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. Read also:Which Billionaire Owns The Most Land In The U.S.? Why? Wonderful Company cofounders Stewart and Lynda Resnick (net worth: $7.1 billion) ranked number three . The total portfolio of farmland is worth well over $700 million. (AP). This is because of more intense seasons of drought and rain. Is Farmland Partners (FPI) A Good Investment? Just over 70% of these were owned by individual investors. 309. About 350,000 acres of the U.S. government land in Hawaii were kept for military installations and national parks. 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 . Is Gladstone Land Corp (LAND) A Good Investment? See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. But these land holdings account for only a tiny share of the countrys total farmland. The Agriculture Department has said the avian flu outbreak in the U.S. is the main contributor to low inventory and high prices. Hes also written about the need for more ways to produce meat without depleting environmental resources. As more investors look to buy land, those who got in earlier are poised to benefit from the appreciation of the land value. 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. Oversight," June 15, 2018, The Chicago Tribune, "Chicken nuggets and cream cheese grow in trays in a South Side lab. The Gates Foundation has focused their efforts on alleviating the aftermaths of climate change since its founding. 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. Gates also owns land in Arizona (25,750 acres), Illinois (17,940),Mississippi (16,963),Washington (16,097), Florida (14,828), Idaho (9,233), Indiana (9,136), Ohio (8,915), California (4,509), Colorado (2,270), Michigan (2,167), Wisconsin (1,188), Wyoming (975), North Carolina (874), Iowa (552), and New Mexico (1). The 2,100 acre potato farm adds to his massive portfolio of farm investments. 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.. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Partnering with Monsanto to create these super seeds is also part of the plan. 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. At the turn of this century, Chinese owners owned about 192,000 acres of farmland in the U.S., according to the USDA. The land was purchased from the owners of Campbell Farms, a potato farming group headquartered in Grafton, North Dakota, approximately 50 miles from the Canadian border. Read next:Bezos-Backed Startup Lets You Become A Landlord With $100. The No. Bill Gates does not own the majority of U.S. farmland. Bill is now the biggest owner of farmland in 2022 a great hedge asset against rising inflation. In fact, in June of 2022 he secured an additional 2,100 acres of farmland in North Dakota for roughly $13.5 million. Bill and Melinda Gates also cracked the Land Report's Top 100 Landowners for the first time coming in at number 49. Conspiracy Theorists claimed last year that the Microsoft founder was buying up farmland in the U.S. to starve Americans for some unknown reason, Snopes said, after researchers said in April that the world was facing a potential food shortage due to Russias invasion of Ukraine. But unlike those men, Gilbert has plans to redevelop his properties and not just sit on them. 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. More than 58 million birds in hundreds of commercial and backyard flocks have been affected since the bird flu outbreak began in February 2022, the Agriculture Department estimated. We need your help. By divesting his personal wealth from his own thriving tech company, and diversifying into myriads of other non-tech based businesses, he was not only exceptionally protected against the tech crash of 2000, but made out like a bandit. AcreTrader has carved out a niche for themselves that has led to rapid market dominance. 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.. You can find his previous stuff at Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough. Using those figures, Gates would own about 0.027% of U.S. farmland. How Long Can You Be Held Without Bond In Michigan? Check out current deals on AcreTrader now! An archived version of the tweet can be found (archive.ph/8Tq36). Why? The Guardian, 5 Apr. These posts were flagged as part of Instagrams efforts to combat false news and misinformation. Gates is not the only billionaire on The Land Report 's list of top private farmland owners. What special interest does Bill Gates have in farmland? And many of the American farms Gates owns specialize in produce, such as onions, carrots and potatoes, NBC News reported in 2021. Social media users are falsely claiming that Gates owns the majority of U.S. farmland. Thus, in Gates mind, its extremely important to help empower these developing peoples before that year comes to fruition.