How many acres of farmland does Bill Gates own and where are the properties located?
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Executive summary
Bill Gates is widely reported to be the largest private owner of U.S. farmland, with reputable trackers and news outlets placing his holdings in the roughly 240,000–275,000 acre range depending on the year and how “farmland” is counted [1] [2] [3]. Those acres are dispersed as a “patchwork” across roughly 17–19 states with the heaviest concentrations in states such as Louisiana, Arizona, Arkansas and Washington, though exact state-by-state totals vary by source [1] [4] [5].
1. The headline acreage: different tallies, same conclusion
Estimates cluster but do not agree on a single figure: The Land Report and multiple outlets have cited totals around 242,000 acres to about 275,000 acres for Gates-associated entities’ farmland holdings, while AP’s fact-check referenced “nearly 270,000 acres” in its 2023 tally [5] [6] [2] [3]. Some outlets emphasize 242,000 acres as a conservative, earlier estimate [5] while later compilations and 2025 rankings list figures as high as 275,000 acres, reflecting continued purchases or broader definitions that include non‑farm land [4] [3].
2. Where the acres sit: a distributed, multi‑state portfolio
Reporting consistently describes Gates’ holdings as spread across many states rather than concentrated in one region: The portfolio has been reported across at least 17 to 19 states from the Pacific Northwest to the Southeast and the Plains, with repeated mention of Louisiana, Arkansas, Arizona, Washington, Illinois, Nebraska and others [1] [7] [4]. Specific state figures cited by industry trackers include large concentrations such as roughly 69,071 acres in Louisiana, 47,927 acres in Arkansas, 25,750 acres in Arizona and tens of thousands more in Nebraska and Washington; other reporting lists holdings like 17,940 acres in Illinois, 9,136 in Indiana and 14,828 in Florida [1] [8] [9].
3. Recent purchases and named parcels illustrate the pattern
Individual transactions illustrate how the portfolio grew as a patchwork of big tranches and targeted buys: for example, a Gates‑linked entity acquired 61 properties from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in 2017 and later bought thousands of acres in Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills and Benton County—including an 8,080‑acre Benton County purchase reported in 2025—showing large, discrete acquisitions that contribute to headline totals [5] [10] [11].
4. Why totals differ: definitions, timing and disclosure gaps
Variation among tallies reflects definitional and methodological differences: some counts focus strictly on active cropland, others include recreational or nonfarm acreage, and some compile different cut‑offs or date ranges; the Land Report’s headline numbers, USDA farmland totals used for context, and company disclosures or lack thereof all influence the final arithmetic [11] [2] [12]. Reporting is also constrained because many purchases are made through LLCs or investment vehicles (Cascade Investment and related entities), making real‑time public tracking imperfect [5] [10].
5. Gates’ public framing and the competing narratives
Gates and his spokespeople have emphasized that the acquisitions are investment decisions managed by Cascade and framed as efforts to improve productivity and sustainability rather than any conspiratorial agenda; Gates himself noted he owns “less than 1/4,000 of the farmland in the US,” a comment echoed in multiple interviews and AMAs used by outlets to counter viral misstatements [6] [3] [4]. Critics raise concerns about concentration, corporate influence and transparency, while supporters point to farmland as a low‑volatility asset and potential site for climate‑smart agriculture—both perspectives appear in industry and news coverage [12] [1].
6. What reporting cannot fully resolve
Available public reporting establishes Gates as the country’s largest private farmland owner by several trackers and places his holdings in the ~240–275k acre band across many states, but precise current acreage and an exhaustive, audited state‑by‑state ledger are not publicly disclosed and remain subject to revision as trackers update methodology and new purchases occur [5] [3] [2]. Until Cascade or comparable public filings provide a full, itemized public inventory, remaining uncertainty about exact acreage and classification will persist.