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As skyrocketing land prices and the “Yellowstone effect” prompt a historic sale of ranch land to billionaire foreigners, a Montana family is charting a different course to preserve the Old West.
Dale and Janet Veseth, owners of Veseth Cattle Co., have donated their 38,000-acre ranch to the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, according to the New York Post. Valued at $21.6 million, the gift is the largest land donation in Montana history and offers a potential model for aging landowners facing the pressures of a hot real estate market.
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The donation comes at a volatile time for Western real estate. Massive farm listings are up 250 percent in the past year, according to the Post, citing Live Water Properties. Wealthy buyers are outgrowing traditional farming interests, often turning working farms into private game reserves or luxury estates.
Recent benchmarks that highlight the trend include a 110,000-acre ranch in New Mexico listed in March for $68.5 million; a larger-than-Rhode Island Wyoming ranch listed for $79.5 million in August; and a 100,000-acre ranch in Wyoming that the Marlboro Man rode on was listed in October for $52.8 million, The Post reported.
For the Veseths, whose family has managed the land for three generations, selling to the highest bidder meant risking the end of the property’s agricultural productivity.
“Every time that land goes out of agriculture, it’s just a fight to get it back,” RSA communications director Haylie Shipp told the Post.
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The average age of U.S. farmers has climbed to 60, creating a succession crisis for the $113 billion cattle industry. Many aging owners have no heirs interested in working the ranch, making a multimillion-dollar exit to a developer or tech mogul tempting, The Post reported.
The Veseths, who have no direct heirs to take over the business, donated the land to RSA to ensure it remains a working farm in perpetuity, according to the Post.
Under the management of the RSA, acreage is likely to be leased to younger farmers, who are priced out of land ownership. The incubator model allows new farmers to build herds without paying the high cost of land required to enter the industry.
The donation is causing waves in the agricultural sector. The RSA told the Post it has received inquiries from Kansas landowners who are interested in similar conservation-based succession plans.
The Veseths will continue to live and operate the farm until retirement, at which point RSA will take full management control, the Post reported.
Image: Shutterstock
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