Gates, already the largest farmland owner in the country, has secured the go ahead to buy the land for $13.5 million under his ‘Red River Trust’ company.
Gates is circumventing a 1932 anti-corporate farm ownership law by pledging to lease the land back to farmers after the purchase is complete.
The Daily Mail reports:
North Dakota’s Agriculture Commissioner, Republican Doug Goehring, previously said that many people feel they are being exploited by the ultra-rich who buy land but do not necessarily share the state’s values.
‘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.’
Article: Bill Gates Granted Authority To Buy 2100 More Acres Of North Dakota Farmland