AgReserves, Inc. (AgReserves) is a multinational agriculture for-profit company ultimately owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is speculated that AgReserves holds the "most valuable private real estate portfolio in the U.S."[1]
| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Agriculture |
| Founded | 1950 |
| Headquarters | Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 , |
Key people | Doug Rose (CEO), Gérald Caussé (Presiding Bishop) |
| Products | Agricultural land owner |
| Owner | LDS Church |
| Website | www |
AgReserves' three divisions operate in more than 30 states and international operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The three divisions include Ranches (dairy and beef with integrated supply chain trace-ability), Permanent Plantings (farming of almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecan, olives, citrus), and Row Crops (farming of corn, wheat, alfalfa, carrots, corn, peas, onions, potatoes). As of 2021, Doug Rose is the CEO of AgReserves.[2][3]
Deseret Ranches, part of the Ranches division of AgReserves, encompasses 295,000-acres and extends across Orange, Osceola and Brevard counties and is seen as critical to the Orlando region's water supply.[4] The ranch is home to about a quarter million citrus trees, timberland, tree farms, commercial crops, and large deposits of fossilized seashells used in road base.[5]
In 2013 AgReserves purchased 382,834 acres from St. Joe Company in Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and Wakulla counties.[4] The land, primarily timberland, was purchased for $565 million.[6][7] As of 2014, the LDS Church was Florida's largest private landowner.[8] AgReserves also owns substantial agricultural land in the United Kingdom.[9] In 2020, AgReserves sold more than 20,000 acres of land surrounding Lake Wimico in Florida to The Nature Conservancy who then donated the land to the state and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.[3][10]
Associated Business Units
editThe AgReserves primary website does not provide information on the operating arms or the regional distinctions of its subsidiary business units. The confusion can be illustrated by an article[11] referencing the Easterday Companies purchase where the Farmland Reserves is depicted as a parent company of AgReserves, and AgriNorthwest is a subsidiary of one of the two. In reality, AgriNorthwest is a subsidiary of Ag Reserves. Farmland Reserves owns the land and leases it to Ag Reserves who then, through its subsidiaries farms the land. A list of subsidiaries of Ag Reserves in the USA is on its website in the about section.
Businesses Related to AgReserves or other agricultural business units of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints include the following:
United States
edit- Farmland Reserve[1]
- Farm Management Co.[12]
- Deseret Ranches (Florida Trees, Fruit, and Cattle)
- Deseret Land and Livestock (Utah)[13]
- AgriNorthwest
Outside of the United States
edit- Farmland Reserve UK Ltd[14]
- AgReserves Australia
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "New database gives widest look ever at LDS Church landholdings. See what it owns and where". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
- ^ "Our executive leadership team has been with AgReserves for a combined 87 years of service". AgReserves. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
- ^ a b Croft, Tim. "Nature Conservancy purchases land at Lake Wimico", Gannett, 12 February 2020. Retrieved on 12 March 2020.
- ^ a b Spear, Kevin. "Mormon church-owned company buys huge swath of Florida land", Orlando Sentinel, 7 November 2013. Retrieved on 11 March 2020.
- ^ Walch, Tad. "LDS Church makes large timberland purchase in Florida Panhandle", Deseret News, 10 November 2013. Retrieved on 12 March 2020.
- ^ Provost, Claire. "From book to boom: how the Mormons plan a city for 500,000 in Florida", The Guardian, 30 January 2017. Retrieved on 12 March 2020.
- ^ Fineout, Gary. "Mormon church affiliate buying up Florida land", The Salt Lake Tribune, 8 November 2013. Retrieved on 12 March 2020.
- ^ Martinez, Amy. "The Mormon Church - Land Lord", Florida Trend, 26 December 2014. Retrieved on 12 March 2020.
- ^ Sidders, Jack and Gopal, Prashant. "Mormon Church in Talks to Buy $129 Million London Office Building", Bloomberg Businessweek, 29 April 2019. Retrieved on 12 March 2020.
- ^ McQuaid, Kevin. "Saunders brokers $43 million Bluffs land deal", Business Observer, 30 October 2020. Retrieved on 2 April 2021.
- ^ FEATHERSTONE, CHARLES H. (2021-08-02). "Salt Lake City company buys Easterday companies' land". Basin Business Journal - Central Washington's Farm News. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
- ^ Lee, Mark. "Mormon Ranch No Longer Feared". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
- ^ "LDS Church's northern Utah ranch is proving to be a model for Western livestock grazing". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
- ^ "The Mormon farm in Cambridgeshire". Varsity Online. Retrieved 2022-12-21.