Last year, her maize output was eight cartloads, while the soybean harvest soared to 37 bags. of the richest people in the country, owns less than one percent of the nations total farmland. Between 2006 and 2015, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation allocated over $424 million to the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). The six-bed Del Mar home, which boasts a ten-person jacuzzi and swimming pool overlooking the ocean, was bought by the couple in late Marchas the international coronavirus pandemic began to take hold. Why Bill Gates Keeps Buying Up So Much Farmland, Particle Accelerator Reveals Beginning of Time, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Of those rentals, less than a third are owned by non-individual investors, according to a 2022 report by Harvard Universitys Joint Center for Housing Studies. The arrangement is simple, The Wall Street Journal wrote in a 2014 profile. Whether or not Gates personally directed Cottonwood Ag to get involved in the Leading Harvest project, the move makes both environmental and business sense. 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. According to mainstream media outlets like the Associated Press, there's absolutely nothing to see here as the Microsoft mogul becomes the largest private owner of U.S. farmland, having acquired as many as 270,000 fertile acres. ', 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 2021 article from the Land Report, a magazine about land ownership, Gates owns approximately 242,000 . He warned us about a pandemic, he dedicates . Total acreage for Bill Gates: Well over 270,000 acres. What does a technology pioneer want with agriculture? People are going to pay attention to what Bill is doing, Sherrick says. A single square mile contains 640 acres. One estimate puts the church's holdings close to 177 million acres, or 277,000 square miles. Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., Waste Management, Inc., Canadian National Railway Company, Caterpillar Inc., Walmart Inc., Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts & more are the companies owned by Bill Gates. Gates responded: "I own less than 1/4000 of the farmland in the US. THE FACTS: As Elon Musks bid to purchase Twitter 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 billionaire tech mogul and philanthropist has quietly amassed nearly 270,000 acres of farmland across the country, but thats still a relatively small slice of the nations nearly 900 million total farm acres. Groups of 15 to 25 smallholders are also being encouraged to form collectives. Kroenke is married to Ann Walkton Kroenke, an heiress to the Wal-Mart fortune. The post says . . by Harvard Universitys Joint Center for Housing Studies. Through Sierra Pacific, the family owns some 2 million acres in California and Washington. Gates and his wife own 269,000 acres of farmland. *According to figures compiled by The Land Report in 2019. James B. Meigs is the co-host of the How Do We Fix It? podcast and the former editor-in-chief of Popular Mechanics. With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. AGRA farms are key suppliers, says Gudmunds. This latest outburst is part of constantly growing anger against Gates and his foundation in India. 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 . But, while Belmont might not be a smart city, it still looks like a smart investment. 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. In his Reddit AMA last year, one user said, "What do you plan to do with all the farmland you have purchased? In 2014, he reportedly purchased more than 4,500 acres in Suwannee County, Florida, for nearly $28 million. While he owns a significant amount, it is a relatively small slice of the nation's nearly 900 million total farm acres. In a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) last week, Gates once again fielded a question pertaining to his AG holdings and stated that he actually only owns 1/4000 of all U.S. farmland, or about 270,000 acres spread across 18 different states. Mr. Social media users have been sharing posts online that list claims about Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates. But many farmers lease at least some of the land they cultivate. They give farmers more bargaining power and allows them to jointly fund communal assets, such as secure storehouses. In the Reddit AMA, he also said he'll sell what he owns as money goes towards the foundation. 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 . The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced an immediate commitment of up to $100 million for coronavirus relief on Wednesday. Since 2016, Gates has led Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a venture-capital fund that invests in clean-technology startups. As the Land Report notes, 24,800 acres of the land is transitional, located on the western edge of Phoenix, the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the country, and the most populous city in Arizona. Deploying high-yield . Sales of more than a thousand acres are blue-moon events, OKeefe noted, so this one stood out. 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. Larson also makes sure Gates keeps his eggs in a wide variety of baskets. People involved in the Gates financial empire stress that the familys philanthropic endeavors are kept separate from their investments and business ventures. Instead, the LDS will add another 12,000 acres to its already massive land holdings, which include over 600,000 acres in Florida alone2 percent of that state's total land mass. The 2,100 acre potato farm adds to his massive portfolio of farm investments. Will Bill Gatess green tech initiatives ever intersect with his growing agricultural empire? In a 2020 blog post, he wrote, "The rich should pay more than they currently do, and that includes Melinda and me.". 5. In addition, the law places certain limitations on the ability of trusts to own farmland or ranchland, the letter said. .css-v1xtj3{display:block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:100;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-v1xtj3:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.1387rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-v1xtj3{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-top:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}Particle Accelerator Reveals Beginning of Time, Earth's Inner Core Has Another Inner Core, 8 Questions About Turkey With an Earthquake Expert, Conspiracy: Blaming Weather Weapons for Earthquake, Scientists Just Discovered a Literal Hell, How the NFL Grew the Field for Super Bowl LVII, The Doomsday Clock Is at 90 Seconds to Midnight, Uh, Earth's Inner Core Just Stopped Spinning, Supercomputer: 27% of Earth's Life Dead by 2100, 20 Weird Facts About Our Lovable Planet Earth. A critical component in this effort must be to decarbonize the industrial sector, Gates said at the time. The outlet reported this week that Gates, 65, owns 268,984 acres of land . 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. She then joined the AGRA programme (see main story), who put her forward as a model participant. FILE - Bill Gates attends a discussion during the 'Munich Security Conference' in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. A new report from AGRA says climate change could increase the number of malnourished people in sub-Saharan Africa from 223 million today to 355 million in 2050. In his annual Reddit AMA Wednesday, Gates was asked why he has bought so much farmland. According to press reports, Gates farmland empire is mostly managed by a Cascade subsidiary called Cottonwood Ag Management. Less rain will be a major factor . 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. retail, office buildings, hotels and apartment complexes, rather than single-family homes, but he declined to provide a breakdown. Introduction. You cant just say, Ive got $30,000 saved up and I want to buy some farmland, Sherrick notes. Gates' interest in farmland is still strong. In that same Reddit AMA from 2021, the one where Gates separated his land investments from his sustainability initiatives, he also mentioned the importance of productive seeds to avoid deforestation as well as the production of biofuels, which relies heavily on corn, in the very same answer. The AGRA project is the most concerted effort yet to fix the problem. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. AGRA has also appointed 2800 inspectors to monitor soil health and advise farmers on how much fertiliser they need. Inside Frogmore Cottage: Plush home Harry and Meghan have been 'evicted' from by King Charles boasts a roomy Sussexes' cheerleader Omid Scobie says Frogmore Cottage was Harry and Meghan's 'one remaining space in UK' A royal princess at Eton? The Land Report reference came out in winter 2021, after which controversies circulated about Gates' accumulation of American farmland. Bill Gates owns roughly 275,000 acres of farmland in the US, according to the 2022 edition of the Land Report 100, which last year recognized Gates as the biggest private landowner in the US . 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In a recent episode of 60 Minutes, Gates explained that zero-carbon energy sources like nuclear power are vital in reducing the emissions that warm the atmosphere. The Microsoft co-founder is considered the largest private owner of farmland in the country with some 269,000 acres across dozens of states, according to last years edition of the Land Report 100, an annual survey of the nations largest landowners. Banda has also been able to buy an ox cart and pay school fees for one of her children. 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. Published: 23:06 GMT, 15 January 2021 | Updated: 07:04 GMT, 16 January 2021. Couple find note in chimney that reveals their 290,000 house was 100 times cheaper 50 years ago. (According to The Land Report, Gates owns about 27,000 acres of non-agricultural land, in addition to his farm holdings.). In April of this year, Reddit users had a chance to ask Gates this very question. 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. In emails, BlackRock spokesman Christopher Beattie told The Associated Press that the firm primarily invests in retail, office buildings, hotels and apartment complexes, rather than single-family homes, but he declined to provide a breakdown. The WFP has bought 450,000 tonnes of food, worth $177 million, and the scheme is set to continue. ", Gates responded at the time, "My investment team bought the farmland. Her new house is made of brick and has a tin roof and two bedrooms. 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 . This isn't the first time Gates has called for higher taxes on the wealthy. Gates has been buying land like it's going out of style. He also bought farmland in Washington state in 2018, The farmland was bought by the couple, pictured at Lincoln Center in New York in 2017, mostly through their investment company, Cascade Investments, and is not connected to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which also works to help support farming. A more in-depth look at the facts makes a compelling case against the billionaire. Flagship projects in Tanzania and Malawi have each recruited 18,000 farmers, while in Ghana 117,000 have signed up. Oscar Cainer tells all. Thanks for contacting us. 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). Last year, Cascade Investment made a second major investment in Arizona by acquiring more than 2,800 acres known as Spurlock Ranch in Buckeye for $25 million, that could be built out to include 8,500 homes. The massive land grab by Gates last year gave the tech magnate his first appearance on The Land Report, a magazine that "provides news, information, and . 50 years ago set to continue as secure storehouses attention to what Bill is doing, Sherrick.. Goes towards the foundation venture-capital fund that invests in clean-technology startups figures compiled by the land Report, magazine... 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