That I don’t take issue with. But on the other hand do you want one person to own all the farmland in the country?
I think they(billionaires and others) are buying farm land as a hedge against inflation.
Real estate that has an income of some type(not fallow ground) is one of the best hedges against inflation.
This is most likely why billionaires are buying land. It is better than GOLD or silver. Especially, if you also own the mineral rights underneath.
Remember, Lucy from Peanuts didn’t want flowers or chocolates.
She wanted Real Estate.
Top ten largest private landowners:
Emmerson family 2.411 million acres
John Malone 2.2 million acres
Ted Turner 2 million acres
Reed family 1.661 million acres
Stan Kroenke 1.627 million acres
Irving family 1.267 million acres
Buck family 1.236 million acres
Singleton family 1.1 million acres
Brad Kelley 1 million acres
King Ranch Heirs 911,215 acres
I have personally met two of the people on this list.
Red Emmerson is a salt of the earth lumberman. He started Sierra Pacific Industries in Northern California.
I have also met James D Irving. He owns most of northern Maine and most of the Province of New Brunswick.
In addition to sawmills & paper mills he also owns a petroleum refinery in NB, and hundreds of Irving gas stations across Canada and New England.
FYI the Weyerhaeuser Corporation/REIT is the largest landowner in the USA:
1. Weyerhaeuser
12,412,000 acres
2. Rayonier
2,174,000 acres
3. Turner Enterprises
2,000,000
4. The Nature Conservancy
2,000,000 acres
5. Sierra Pacific Industries
1,959,666 acres
6. PotlatchDeltic
1,905,000 acres
7. Green Diamond Resource Company
1,729,000 acres
8. CatchMark Timber
1,577,200 acres
9. J.D. Irving
1,246,346 acres
10. CalPERS
1,108,000 acres
Almost all of the above are timber/sawmill companies.