Entity linked to billionaire Bill Gates pays $13.5 million for Campbell Farms’ North Dakota farmland

GRAFTON, N.D. — An entity related to Invoice Gates, the billionaire proprietor of Microsoft, seems to have bought about 2,100 acres of northern Crimson River Valley farmland in North Dakota in a deal quietly labored out with the homeowners of Campbell Farms, a potato farming group headquarted in Grafton, North Dakota, final November.

No one concerned within the deal appears keen to speak about it.

Public deeds present the transaction totals about $13.5 million, with a tough common value in two counties of $6,400 per acre. Pembina County transfers break all the way down to about $6,600 per acre. The Walsh County paperwork are sophisticated by river boundaries, however the sale value calculates to about $6,000.

The Pembina data present “grantors” (sellers) are brothers “William T. (‘’Invoice”) Campbell, a married particular person, Gregory T. (‘Greg”) Campbell, a married particular person and Thomas S. (“Tom”) Campbell, a single particular person.” Agweek left cellphone messages, emails and texts for Tom and Greg and visited places of work of Invoice at Campbell Properties, Fargo, with out a response.

The non-irrigated land on Nov. 2 and three, 2021, was transferred to Crimson River Belief, with trustee Peter Headley. The belief is situated 8789 Penrose Lane, Suite, 400, Lenexa, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas Metropolis, Kansas. That’s the identical deal with as Cottonwood Ag, or Cottonwood Farms, and Oak River Farms/Midwest. Agweek known as Oak River Farms, which didn’t return the decision.

In the meantime, an entity known as Crimson River Belief was filed with the North Dakota Secretary of State’s workplace on Feb. 15, 2022, with an deal with of 15111 Freeway 17, Grafton, which is the deal with for Campbell Farms.

A Wall Avenue Journal in 2015 stated that in 1994, Invoice and Melinda Gates employed Michael Larson, who operated by Cascade Funding LLC, to diversify the household portfolio away from Microsoft. Larson informed the Wall Avenue Journal he acquired “100,000 acres of farmland” in lots of states. The “Land Report 100” e-newsletter later would estimate the funding is greater than twice that quantity, and would say he owns extra farmland than anybody in America. A few of it was in Canada.

Cottonwood Ag Administration is an agricultural asset administration crew for BMGI/Cascade Administration, in response to AgriInvestor.

Headley, in his LinkedIn profile, exhibits himself to be head of agriculture funding administration for Funding Administration Co., since April 2017. Headley beforehand was managing director of agricultural investments for MetLife at Overland Park, Kansas, from 2007 to 2017, and earlier than that was regional director of Citigroup/Vacationers for almost 15 years.

In a 2020

article

on farmland funding by NFU Mutual Charitable Belief, the authors stated Headley headed “Cottonwood,” which they described as an ag-investment platform for Invoice and Melinda Gates.

The article described an elevated curiosity by “Extremely Excessive Internet Value people in farmland possession” and questioned whether or not this was good for small farmers. North Dakota has anti-corporate farming legal guidelines, however entities can legally kind “limited-liability restricted partnerships” by which company cash isn’t concerned.

No matter any land possession standing, Campbell Farms, on their web site, seem to proceed their potato farming, together with on the land concerned within the deal. The Campbells didn’t make themselves out there to debate the small print of the sale, together with whether or not there have been lease-back preparations.

In keeping with their farm web site, Invoice and Tom began Campbell Farms in 1978 with a $9,000 mortgage. Greg joined two years later. In keeping with their

web site

, the farm has operations at Large Lake, Minnesota, west of Minneapolis, and Grafton, north and west of Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The corporate lists itself as a “fully-integrated, year-round provider of recent desk inventory potatoes.” They produce recent crimson natural potatoes, in addition to premium crimson and yellow potatoes. The web site lists the three brothers as the manager crew and Jerel Lindgren, farm supervisor, and Thomas Campbell II, as supervisor of the Large Lake farms.

Tom Campbell, 63, is also a former North Dakota legislator who has unsuccessfully sought statewide workplace, together with abbreviated makes an attempt at getting the Republican nomination for the seats now held by Sen. Kevin Cramer and Rep. Kelly Armstrong.

In his congressional efforts, Tom promoted himself as potato farmer, however his advertisements downplayed his former function as chairman of the board and shareholder of Alternative Monetary Financial institution.

On Jan. 6, 2021, on the urging of conservative radio persona Scott Hennen, Tom flew to Washington, D.C., the place he attended the notorious rally for then-Pres. Donald Trump, which changed into a Capitol break-in and rebellion.

Campbell later informed Agweek he was not a powerful supporter of Trump and didn’t suppose his commerce insurance policies had been good for agriculture. Tom stated he was within the air, flying again to North Dakota, earlier than he discovered the occasion had turned violent.