Who Owns the Land? (Part One)

“This land is your land; this land is my land….” If Woody Guthrie were alive today he might need to add another verse to “this land was made for you and me.”

The amount of foreign-owned agricultural land has grown significantly in recent years. In 2011, 26 million acres were owned by foreign investors. In 2022, foreign-owned acreage grew to 43.4 million.

• In most states, very little land is foreign-held. The exception to this is Maine, where one- fifth of all privately held land is at least partially foreign-owned. Most of that land is forest controlled by Canadian owners, particularly the Canadian timber company Irving Woodlands, which owns at least 1.255 million acres in Maine.
• What some consider a red flag is that Maine and Texas, the top two states for most foreign-held lands, have no laws restricting foreign ownership of the land.

Why do they want U.S. land?

According to an articlepublished in “Blue Marble” byHope O’Dell and AJ Caughey posted March 29, 2024 (updated on Feb 21, 2025) state lawmakers are concerned about Chinese ownership. This has resulted in at least 81 bills banning Chinese ownership of U.S. land, introduced across 33 states. About half of all states have laws restricting foreign landownership in some capacity, according to the National Agricultural Law Center, and at least 11 federal bills on the topic have been proposed in the last three years.   

According to a USDA report, almost half of all foreign-held U.S. land is timber or forest land, 29% is for crops, and 22% is pasture or other agricultural land. Only about 2% of foreign-held land is non-agricultural. “Agricultural land can be a great investment,” said Michigan State University agriculture professor David Ortega. “Foreign entities have bought this land for food production, energy projects such as wind or solar farms, or as an investment due to its stable growth and returns.” To prove his point, in 2023 the average value of farm real estate in the U.S. hit $4,080 an acre – nearly double what it was worth in 2007. The U.S. Government Accountability Office notes that many foreign companies have begun leasing pastures and farmland to build wind turbines.

One country often mentioned is China, but they fall toward the bottom of the list of non-U.S. landowners. Here is a graphic from the “Blue Marble” website, sourcing USDA data. Note: the name of the country is shorthand for companies or investors from that country.

As you can see, Canada leads with 31%, followed by the Netherlands at 12%. In contrast, China’s share is about 1%. The issue may or may not be China perse but that it’s 349,442 acres of US farmland is up by 30% as of 2021, and too close to military installations.

According to an article in the New York Post, “China has been buying up strategically placed farmland next to military installations across the US, raising national security concerns over potential espionage or even sabotage. The Post has identified 19 bases across the US from Florida to Hawaii which are in close proximity to land bought by Chinese. They include some of the military’s most strategically important bases.

Who are the largest private land owners in the U.S.?

Using this resource – https://www.landapp.com/ – the largest farmland owners in the U.S. are:

1. Bill Gates

Bill Gates, aka The Gates Foundation, owns approximately 275,000 acres of farmland, spread across 17 states or 1% of total U.S. farmland. Why his interest in farmland? The following reasons have been put forward: To manage food supplies or create certain shortages; to use the land for environmental experiments; to push certain farming practices that fit his views on climate change; manipulating markets for his own financial gain or to benefit his other business interests of biotech or synthetic foods.** Gates and others can potentially displace smaller farmers who may struggle to compete with the financial power of billionaires.

2. Stewart & Lynda Resnick

Stewart and Lynda Resnick, entrepreneurs behind The Wonderful Company, have made a name for themselves in the agricultural industry. Their company owns approximately 180,000 acres of farmland, mostly in California, and is involved in the production of fruits, nuts, and other agricultural products. The Wonderful Company pursues a strategy of vertical integration, seeking complete control over the supply chain of their agricultural products. This approach presents challenges for independent farmers, as it can limit their market access and bargaining power.

3. John Malone

John Malone, a prominent media executive and business magnate, owns large tracts of ranches and farmland. His land holdings encompass both agricultural and recreational properties. Overall, Malone owns approximately 2.2 million acres of land – some for farmland.

4. Ted Turner

Ted Turner, the media entrepreneur and founder of CNN, is known for his extensive land holdings, particularly ranches. Overall, Ted Turner owns approximately 2 million acres of land, although it’s unclear how much is used for farming. His properties involve bison ranching but also serve as conservation areas. The same concerns have been raised about preservation of natural habitats limiting the availability of affordable land for grazing and farming.

5. Stan Kroenke

Stan Kroenke, a businessman and sports team owner, owns substantial agricultural land, including ranches in various states. His diverse land holdings encompass both agricultural and recreational properties. Stan Kroenke owns approximately 1.7 million acres of land overall, including farmland.

Who else are “land barons”?

There are many – here are a few of the private owners.

• Rupert Murdoch – owns 873,000 acres of farm land.
• Jeff Bezos – owns a 420,000 acre farm in TX – used for his various space and other projects.
• Elon Musk  – created the first company town in recent history. Starbase, previously known as Boca Chica, TX was declared a city for the purpose of giving the residents authority to pass city ordinances. Polls show that 97.7% of the approximately 500 people who reside there were in favor of incorporation. Most of the 283 eligible voters were SpaceX employees or had connections to the company. Musk has acquired over 4,400 acres in TX, including his large Gigafactory near Austin and now Starbase. Starbase is located on the very southern tip of Texas on the Gulf of Mexico, just below the Rio Grande River.

Farmland in the U.S.

In 2022, the United States had just over 1.9 million farms, down 6.9% from 2017. These farms accounted for 880.1 million acres of land in farms, or 39% of all U.S. land. This was a decline of 20.1 million acres (2.2%) from the 2017 level. During the same time, the average farm size increased 5.0%, from 441 acres in 2017 to 463 acres in 2022. Between 2017 and 2022, almost all of the size classes decreased in number of farms. Only the largest class (5,000 acres or larger) increased in number of farms.

Corporate vs private land ownership

Farmland has always been a lucrative investment for the rich. Millions of acres are owned by wealthy individuals and corporations (not actively involved in farming) and then leased out. 

According to the last Census of Agriculture in 2017, agricultural land is still primarily owned by families and individuals (201.5 million acres of cropland and 223.8 million acres of pastureland). The remaining private cropland and pastureland are held by partnerships, family corporations (in which a single family and close relatives hold a majority of shares), and industrial agricultural corporations. As land becomes more expensive, wealth becomes a deciding factor in who gets cut out versus who has the opportunity and the means to procure land.

The problem with consolidation

One significant cause of midsize farms disappearing in recent years is the federal farm policy that favors large farms. In the U.S., size is rewarded, the bigger the farm, the higher the profit. The result is the exclusion of new farmers to own land, entering the profession, and creating generational wealth and long-term stability. According to data provided in reports used for this post, “farmland consolidation means that a few corporate entities have control over a majority of what’s grown, how it’s grown, and what ends up in the grocery stores.  

Another concern is that large farm management prefers a single crop (usually corn or soybeans) grown over a hefty tract, year after year, using vast quantities of fertilizers and pesticides. These crops are not edible for humans and have been proven to destroy what little non-toxic topsoil in left. And, rarely mentioned is the deterioration of farming communities. As small farming is made unaffordable and those who still own their farms are offered enormous buyouts from big ag companies, the quality of rural farm life goes with it. This is particularly the case in the poorest, southern farm communities where modern technology is also intruding on farmsteads.  Part II of Who Owns the Land will discuss the latest land grab.

**A note about one of the latest Bill Gates projects appearing in grocery stores. Other than totally unregulated sun dimming, fake meat, and bugs promoted as fine dining, Bill Gates has invested in and vigorously promotes Apeel and Organipeel.

The stated purpose of the coating is to prolong the shelf life of fruits and vegetables; the results show rubbery bananas and avocados. The coating is applied by spraying or dipping produce in a solution that consists of purified monoglycerides and diglycerides among other ingredients. The compounds are designated by the Food and Drug Administration as a “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS. However, GRAS safety standards were developed for a few items in the 1950s, then later relaxed by congress in the 1990s, allowing corporations to monitor the safety of ingredients in their products. A full review of GRAS is scheduled to be conducted by the new administration under the FDA leadership of Dr. Marty Markary.  

Photo credits: Windfarm – sam – di-risio, solar farm – hrant -khachatrya.