Invest Like Bill Gates With This Top Farmland REIT

Bill Gates is the largest private owner of farmland in the United States, with a portfolio of nearly 250,000 acres according to The Land Report.

When asked why he's been purchasing so much farmland in an "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, Gates responded, "I own less than 1/4000 of the farmland in the US. I have invested in these farms to make them more productive and create more jobs. There isn’t some grand scheme involved – in fact, all these decisions are made by a professional investment team."

If you think Gates is making a smart move by investing in farmland, you can do the same with this real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on farmland.

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Gladstone Land Corp.

Gladstone Land Corp. LAND is a farmland REIT with a portfolio of 168 farms totaling nearly 112,000 acres across Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington as of its most recent investor presentation. It's primarily focused on farms that grow fresh produce annually, including most fruits and vegetables, as well as certain permanent crops, including blueberries and nuts. This is because fresh produce has historically outpaced inflation.

Gladstone currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.0465 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $0.558 per share and giving its stock a yield of approximately 4.4% at the time of this writing.

In addition to having a high yield, Gladstone has shown a strong dedication to growing its dividend for its shareholders. In its January dividend hike announcement, the company proudly stated that it has "increased its common stock distributions 33 times over the prior 36 quarters."

If you want to invest like Bill Gates, Gladstone is a great way to do it.

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