The 5 Largest Farms in the U.S.

Farming and agriculture are essential parts of an economy that feeds people around the world. Without an amazing network of farmers and agricultural experts, there wouldn’t be enough for everyone to eat. Let’s look at the top five largest farms in the U.S. to get a reference for just how large some farms are. Here’s a chart of our five subjects to help get you acquainted:

The 5 Largest U.S. Farms (By Acreage)

Before we start, it’s essential to know that our list of the top five largest farms in the U.S. comprises farmland, not just private land. The list of private landowners is quite large since land is classified differently depending on its use. For our list, we did our best to keep it specifically farmland related, even if some of the land a private owner has is used for farmland. Also, farm size doesn’t necessarily mean an equivalent income. Some larger farms in the U.S. are based on income, but we didn’t include that metric today.

1. Bill Gates – 242,000 Acres

Bill Gates, one of the wealthiest persons in the world and known for owning Microsoft (although he’s since stepped away from the company), is also one of the largest private farmland owners in the U.S. It was recently revealed he owns a total of 242,000 acres of farmland across 18 different states.

Although it is not clear how Gates uses his farmland, one of his foundations helps create advanced eco-friendly farming practices and farmland sustainability programs. His largest land holdings are in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Nebraska. In addition to buying farmland, Gates has supported agriculture through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which gave over $30 million in grant money to help farmers with non-industrial lots in Africa and South Asia develop efficient high-yield programs. The foundation has also invested in researching “super crops” that can tolerate the effects of climate change.

2. Ted Turner – 2.2 Million Acres (Not All Used as Farmland)

Ted Turner, media mogul and founder of CNN, is one of the largest private landowners in the U.S. He owns a total of 2.2 million acres of land across the country, mainly ranches. These ranches can be found primarily in Argentina, Kansas, Montana, South Dakota, New Mexico, and Nebraska.

While it is not known precisely how much of Turner’s land he dedicates to farmland or grazing, it is undoubtedly a significant portion. Turner has dedicated much of his funds towards ecological sustainability, and his ranches house over 45,000 bison! Turner’s ranches promote and support many cutting-edge environmental projects. Some of these projects are timber related and are designed to protect forests, develop more efficient water delivery systems, and protect and recover native plants that have been harmed by land development and industrial construction. Due to the large acreage of land he owns, Turner is considered the second-largest private landowner in the U.S. and potentially the largest farm owner, depending on how it’s split up and classified.

3. Stewart & Lynda Resnick – 190,000 Acres

Stewart and Lynda Resnick are a farming business family and well-known entrepreneurs. They have multiple businesses in all domains, although farming is one of their largest.

In the 1970s, Stewart Resnick purchased 2,500 acres of oranges and lemons in California, kickstarting their entrance into agriculture. They then acquired larger pieces of land from companies, eventually accumulating the 190,000 acres they own today. Their primary agricultural company, The Wonderful Company, produces many famous foods and snacks, including mandarins (Halos), pistachios, almonds, and pomegranate juice from their farms in Texas and California. The Resnicks are unique on the list of large farmland owners as they not only own a large amount of farmland but also actively run farming business operations on the land.

4. Offutt Family – 190,000 Acres

The Offutt family is a family-owned potato farming operation based in Fargo, ND. The company, R.D. Offutt Farms, is known for its partnership with research teams at the University of Minnesota and North Dakota State University to develop environmentally friendly farming methods and increase crop quality.

The Offutts also own RDO Equipment, a company that sells and repairs large farming equipment brands like John Deere. They are also unique in that they are not only large-scale farmland owners but also run a farming equipment business, positioning them as a vertically integrated company in the agriculture industry.

5. Fanjul Family – 152,000 Acres

The Fanjul family is a well-known name in the sugar industry and has a lot of brand recognition through Crystal, their sugar brand. In the 1850s, the Fanjuls grew sugar in Cuba. However, due to the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro, the family lost everything and made a big move by relocating to South Florida. It was there where Alfonso and Pepe Fanjul officially founded Florida Crystals Corporation.

Many years later, the Fanjul family owns more than 152,000 acres of farmland in Florida’s Everglades Agricultural Area, where they primarily produce sugarcane. For reference, Florida Crystals processed 5.7 million tons of sugarcane on their 152,000 acres, resulting in a total of 676,000 tons of sugar and 30 million gallons of molasses. Outside of its sugar mills, refinery, and rice mill, the family runs North America’s largest power plant, which runs exclusively on biomass. The Fanjuls are considered one of the largest sugar producers in the U.S., and their farming operation is vertically integrated, spanning from farming to processing and even power generation.

Summary of the 5 Largest Farms in the U.S.

Here is a list of the 5 largest farms in the U.S.:

Other Farms Worthy of Mention:

Two other farming operations are definitely worthy of consideration:

#6: The Boswell Family – 150,000 acres. James Boswell II (1923-2009) inherited 50,000 acres in the San Joaquin Valley of California and over 50 years time tripled his holdings and revolutionized farming in that area with irrigation by building dams and diverting rivers. He was famous for his pima cotton and his tomato company that produced tomatoes from seeds through processing.

#7: The Simplot Family – 82,500 acres. In 1987, J.R. Simplot agreed to supply McDonald’s with frozen French fires. The Iowa farmer went from growing potatoes to food processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer manufacturing, and cattle ranching, Today his heirs have a $2.5 billion agricultural industry with 443,000 acres, 82,500 of them in farmland, mostly in western Idaho and eastern Washington where they produce hay, wheat, corn, barley, and of course, potatoes.

It is also worth mentioning that, among the nation’s largest landowners, are:

John Malone – 2.2 million acres. Advised by his friend, Ted Turner, to buy land, this Liberty Media chair went all out and now owns as much land as Turner.

The Emerson Family of northern California – just under 2 million acres. Their holdings are in timberland in the Pacific Northwest.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Irina Mos/Shutterstock.com