Bill Gates’ Nebraska neighbors don’t know he owns the soybean field down the road. Here’s the story of his spending spree, including the massive loan he took out against his land.
Foreign companies have serious ties to Nebraska agriculture, but those ties don’t often lead to ownership of Nebraska farmland — thanks partly to a 19th-century law.
In the past five years, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bought twice as much Nebraska land as the second biggest buyer. If they keep it up, they’ll soon own more than anyone.
Seven out-of-state buyers, including a Utah church, a Philadelphia corporate farm and a California investment fund, spent nearly $250 million in the past five years on pricey Nebraska farmland, FFP analysis shows.
After more than a century of government actions that led to the loss and sale of reservation land, the Nebraska tribes are buying some back. They’re running into high prices and, some allege, bigotry as they do.
