Flatwater Free Press

Who’s Buying Nebraska?

Yanqi Xu, Destiny Herbers

Multinational corporations, out-of-state corporate farms, and far-away investors are scooping up Nebraska farmland — and driving up the average cost per acre. Flatwater Free Press examined how buyers, including billionaires like Bill Gates and Ted Turner, spent nearly $250 million in the past five years to own a piece of the state’s farmland, the cost of which has jumped 41% since 2018. The series’ final story was part of a collaboration with INN’s Rural News Network.

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