Many Americans believe owning five, 50, or 500 acres is a dream come true. But for America's largest private landowners, the acreage numbers are staggering and tally in the millions — possessing greater square mileage than several U.S. states. For them, the Land Report 100 is the tale of the tape. Ranking the top private landowners from across the United States, the bottom of the list is as telling as the top: Just to get a seat at the table (100th place) requires 100,000 acres.
Topping the list as America's king of private landholdings is once again John Malone with 2.2 million acres. Ted Turner is at Malone's heels with 2 million acres; followed by the Emmerson family with 1.86 million acres; Brad Kelley with 1.5 million acres; and the Irving family with 1.25 million acres.
(For more on Kelley, see Brad Kelley, the farm boy with 1 million acres)
The remainder of the Land Report 100 features individuals and families with innumerable ties to agriculture, forestry and cattle production:
7. King Ranch Heirs (911,215 acres): "… citrus, turfgrass, vegetables, sugarcane, pecan processing, and retail and branding activities have become as much a part of the modern KRI as ranching."
8. Stan Kroenke (848,571 acres): Kroenke bought Montana's Broken O Ranch in 2012. According to Forbes, Broken O is "one of the largest agricultural operations in the Rocky Mountain West." Kroenke already owned Q Creek Ranch, 540,000 acres in the Rocky Mountains.
12. Lykes Heirs (615,000 acres): "… holdings encompass 275,000 acres in Texas and 337,000 acres in Florida. The cattle operation is one of the largest in the country with equal emphasis on forage equality and nutritional value."
47. Eugene Gabrych (200,000 acres): "Where is the best hunting ranch in California? The 18,000-acre Rock Springs Ranch if you're asking Eugene Gabrych … he has additional noteworthy farms and ranches throughout the Golden State as well as in Nevada."
51. Hunt Family (190,000 acres): "… its farms and ranches raise cattle and horses and produce hay, corn, citrus, grains, and sugar."
67. Boswell Family (150,000 acres): "California-based J.G. Boswell Co. is the country's leading cotton grower. It mills and sells Pima cotton to textile makers worldwide."
77. Stefan Soloviev (141,700 acres): Soloviev's Crossroads Ag grows corn, canola, sunflowers, sorghum, wheat, and cotton in Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico."