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Dec. 27, 2023
By Miles Dilworth, Sr. Reporter, DailyMail.com The Mormon church has sparked a fierce backlash from local farmers after snapping up around 370,000 acres of prime ranch land in Nebraska, with the Utah-based religion now owning at least $2billion of agricultural terrain across the country, DailyMail.com can reveal. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), commonly known as the Mormon church, has bought more land than anyone else in the state over the past five years, according to The Flatwater Free Press. It now owns an estimated $134million worth of agricultural land in Nebraska and is on track to surpass CNN founder Ted Turner as the single largestBut the church has provoked the ire of the Nebraska Farmers Union, whose president John Hansen told DailyMail.com that its land grab was driving up prices and forcing out local farmers. 'It's not fair competition when folks bring in that much outside money and bid against local farmers and ranchers,' he said. landowner in the state if it continues its spree at the current rate. The church is already thought to be the largest private landowner in Florida, after it purchased nearly 383,000 acres of timberland in 2013, adding to the 290,000 acres of ranch land it already owned in the state. Its total agricultural holdings in the Sunshine State alone are thought to be worth a whopping $884million. It comes amid growing scrutiny over the church's finances, with a recent report estimating it could be worth as much as $1trillion in 20 years. The secretive institution has been blighted by a federal investigation into its finances amid accusations by whistleblowers that it is misusing its vast reserves. Even some of its own members have sued the church, accusing it of misusing hundreds of thousands of pounds of their donations. A Mormon agricultural empire The extent of the church's huge agricultural portfolio can be revealed following DailyMail.com analysis of data shared by nonprofit newsroom Truth & Transparency. Unlike other nonprofits in the US, religious organizations do not have to publicly report their income or assets. But Truth & Transparency identified church-owned companies to build a picture of church real estate holdings across the US. To read entire article, Click Here Tweet |
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