Why Does Bill Gates Own So Much Illinois Farmland?

I'm not the first to ask this question. It's a fact that Bill Gates owns thousands of acres of Illinois farmland. The big question is why and what's the end game?

For once in my life, I'm going to attempt to not go (too far) down into the conspiracy theory rabbit hole. I'd like to hear from Bill Gates himself as to why so much of his property holdings include Illinois farmland.

Let's start with the facts. Land Report says Bill Gates owns exactly 17,940 acres of Illinois farmland.

Sticking with the facts and not speculation, Popular Mechanics did a deep dive into the Bill Gates fascination with farmland and learned some interesting things. During a Reddit Ask Me Anything session, he revealed something surprising saying "my investment group chose to do this. It is not connected to climate." They dismissed his Illinois farmland ownership along with others across America as “rich guy doing rich guy things".

I found something curious that Bill Gates said about his upcoming feature on Netflix "What's Next". Note his comments on the environment and conspiracy theories.

I disregard any theory that says Bill Gates does anything just because he's a rich guy and can do what he wants. He always has a plan. That's how he became so wildly successful. He had a vision, a plan and he executed it and helped start a technology revolution. Bill Gates ALWAYS has a plan. Illinois farmland ownership is no exception.

I will not claim that I understand what Bill Gates has in mind for all that farmland and I don't believe he's intentionally nefarious about it either. My guess is that he and his companies believe they're doing something for the greater good. Are they really though? My guess is we'll find out soon enough.

Bill Gates - "So we've got a lot of work to do, the sooner, the better".