The sale of a couple of thousand acres of prime North Dakota farmland to a group tied to Bill Gates has stirred emotions over a Depression-era law meant to protect family farms and raised questions about whether the billionaire shares the state’s values.
The Microsoft founder has won legal approval to buy a massive swath of prime North Dakota farmland over the objections of some local residents and questions about the legality of the purchase.
North Dakota’s attorney general, a Republican, cleared the sale on June 29 after finding that the Gates-controlled entity complies with a Depression-era law meant to protect family farms because the land is being leased back to farmers.
Red River Trust, a Texas-based organization controlled by Gates, in November bought some 2,100 acres of farmland in North Dakota, near the borders of Minnesota and Canada.
The move drew scrutiny from North Dakota’s top prosecutor in the context of possible non-compliance with laws that prohibit corporations or limited liability companies from owning farmland or ranchland but allow individual trusts to own the land if it is leased to farmers.
Attorney General Drew Wrigley looked into the land sale and on June 29 issued a letter saying the transaction complies with the anti-corporate farming law because the farmland is being leased back to farmers.
Wrigley said the corporate farming inquiry goes out “as a matter of course” when his office is notified of farmland sales, in this case, Red River Trust’s $13.5 million purchase of property in two counties from wealthy northeastern North Dakota potato growers Campbell Farms.
Matthew L. Thompson, an attorney at the North Dakota-based Vogel Law Firm who represents Red River Trust, confirmed Gates’ ownership in a letter responding to the inquiry from the attorney general’s office.
Gates is considered the largest private owner of farmland in the country with some 269,000 acres across dozens of states, according to last year’s edition of the Land Report 100, an annual survey of the nation’s largest landowners. He owns less than 1 percent of the nation’s total farmland.
Meanwhile, the state’s Agriculture Commissioner, Republican Doug Goehring, told a North Dakota TV station that many people feel they are being exploited by the ultra-rich who buy land but do not necessarily share the state’s values. About 2100 acres (849.84 hectares) of land were sold in the deal.
Goehring, who is currently on a state-sponsored trade mission to the United Kingdom, did not immediately respond to a list of questions emailed by the AP.
“I’ve gotten a big earful on this from clear across the state, it’s not even from that neighborhood,” Goehring told KFYR-TV. “Those people are upset, but there are others that are just livid about this.”
According to AWM:
Gates plans to lease the land to potato growers. He has no plans to build anything on the land or use it for any purpose other than farming.
The fact that Bill Gates is allowed to purchase so much land in North Dakota highlights how difficult it is for small farmers and ranchers to compete against big money interests in the United States. The playing field is not level, and it is tilted in favor of the rich and famous.
Gates sparked controversy when he suggested that consumers in wealthy countries should ditch beef and instead switch to “synthetic beef” in an effort to fight climate change.
Watch the video below of why rich people in America buy farmland in America:
Source: AWM
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