{"id":1536149,"date":"2022-07-02T07:34:54","date_gmt":"2022-07-02T11:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1536149"},"modified":"2022-07-02T07:35:08","modified_gmt":"2022-07-02T11:35:08","slug":"bill-gates-wins-legal-approval-for-13-5-million-north-dakota-farmland-purchase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bill-gates-wins-legal-approval-for-13-5-million-north-dakota-farmland-purchase\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Gates Wins Legal Approval for $13.5 Million North Dakota Farmland Purchase"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbill-gates-wins-legal-approval-for-13-5-million-north-dakota-farmland-purchase%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1536149&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Microsoft founder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-bill-gates\">Bill Gates<\/a> has won legal approval to buy a massive swath of prime <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-north-dakota\">North Dakota<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-farmland\">farmland<\/a> over the objections of some local residents and questions about the legality of the purchase.<\/p>\n<p>North Dakota\u2019s attorney general, a Republican, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/bill-gates-linked-13-5-million-farmland-purchase-triggers-pushback-in-north-dakota_4567133.html\">cleared the sale<\/a> on June 29 after finding that the Gates-controlled entity complies\u00a0with a Depression-era law meant to protect family farms because the land is being leased back to farmers.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>The move drew scrutiny from North Dakota\u2019s top prosecutor in the context of possible non-compliance with laws that\u00a0prohibit corporations or limited liability companies from owning farmland or ranchland but allow individual trusts to own the land if it is leased to farmers.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Matthew L. Thompson, an attorney at the North Dakota-based Vogel Law Firm who represents Red River Trust, confirmed Gates\u2019 ownership in a letter responding to the inquiry from the attorney general\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRed River Trust is a trust established pursuant to the laws of the State of Washington. William H. Gates, III is its sole beneficiary,\u201d Thompson wrote in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/22077478-north_dakota_ag_letter_red_river_trust_inquiry\">letter<\/a> to Kerrie Helm, a paralegal in charge of corporate farming enforcement for the attorney general\u2019s office, which The Epoch Times obtained.<\/p>\n<p>In a June 29\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/22077488-north_dakota_ag_letter_red_river_trust_inquiry_closed\">letter<\/a> obtained by The Epoch Times, Helm responded that after reviewing all the information, the office was satisfied that\u00a0\u201cRed River Trust\u2019s current ownership and lease of the land to Campbell Farms, a General Partnership, is in compliance\u201d with the law.<\/p>\n<p>Besides legal questions, the land sale also sparked concerns about ultra-rich landowners who may not share the state\u2019s values.<\/p>\n<p>Gates is the fourth-richest man in the world, according to Forbes, and is America\u2019s largest private owner of farmland.<\/p>\n<h2>Residents \u2018Livid\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>North Dakota\u2019s agriculture commissioner, Doug Goehring, said that news of the deal sparked a public outcry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve gotten a big earful on this from clear across the state, it\u2019s not even from that neighborhood,\u201d he told North Dakota TV station KFYR-TV. \u201cThose people are upset, but there are others that are just livid about this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a recent media interview, though, Wrigley appeared to downplay the issue, telling The Associated Press that he\u2019s not sure\u00a0\u201cthat it\u2019s quite as volatile a situation as some have depicted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The issue has \u201ctaken off, it\u2019s all over the planet, but it\u2019s not me sticking a finger in the eye of Bill Gates. That\u2019s not what this is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added his office makes such corporate farming inquiries \u201cas a matter of course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s meant to get everybody up to speed on what the ownership arrangement is and what their intentions are for the land,\u201d Wrigley said. \u201cIf it complies with state law, the matter goes forward. If not, they\u2019re informed they\u2019re going to have to divest of the land.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gates made his first public comment about his farmland investments in March 2021, during an \u201cAsk Me Anything\u201d session on the social media platform Reddit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy are you buying so much farmland?\u201d asked one Reddit user.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy investment group chose to do this. It is not connected to climate,\u201d Gates wrote in response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe agriculture sector is important. With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. It is unclear how cheap biofuels can be but if they are cheap it can solve the aviation and truck emissions,\u201d Gates said.<\/p>\n<p>Gary Hubbell, a real estate broker and accredited land consultant at United Country Ranch Properties in Colorado, said he sees \u201ca lot of resentment and resistance to [Gates\u2019] acquisitions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot to say that we don\u2019t appreciate people who amass large holdings, because it\u2019s an integral part of our business,\u201d\u00a0Hubbell <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ntd.com\/bill-gatess-farmland-buying-spree-hits-hurdle_799301.html\">told NTD<\/a>. \u201cBut they are no longer really a part of the community, and it seems that Bill Gates, his goals are contrary to many of the established practices and traditions of those communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gates sparked controversy when he suggested that consumers in wealthy countries should ditch beef and instead switch to \u201csynthetic beef\u201d in an effort to fight climate change.<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-tom-ozimek\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Tom Ozimek has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education. The best writing advice he&#8217;s ever heard is from Roy Peter Clark: &#8216;Hit your target&#8217; and &#8216;leave the best for last.&#8217;\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-eva-fu\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/15f130a8712a9ef5_ttl7dayQgw_WEB_EvaFu.jpg\" alt=\"Eva Fu\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"names\">\n<p>China Reporter<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bio\">Eva Fu is a New York-based writer for The Epoch Times focusing on U.S.-China relations, religious freedom, and human rights. Contact Eva at\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:eva.fu@epochtimes.com\">eva.fu@epochtimes.com<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Microsoft founder Bill Gates 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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1536149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1536149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1536149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1536149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1536149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1536149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1536149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}