The Magazine of the American Landowner is an essential guide for investors, landowners, and those interested in buying or selling land. The award-winning quarterly is known for its annual survey of America's largest landowners, The Land Report 100.
Issue link: http://landreport.epubxp.com/i/582499
98 The LandReport | W I N T E R 2 0 1 5 LANDREPORT.COM The L and Report 100 Ford Family 625,000 acres In the 1930s, Kenneth Ford (1908–1997) started out with a single sawmill near Rose- burg, Oregon. He bought timberlands that had been repossessed for non payment of taxes. When the post–World War II housing boom hit, Roseburg Forest Products was poised to expand. Today, the company makes engineered wood products, lumber, plywood, and particle board. CEO Allyn Ford oversees timberlands in Western Oregon and Northern California along with manufacturing plants nationwide. Lykes Heirs 615,000 acres From Florida orange juice to beef cattle in Texas, the Lykes family remains one of the most prominent agribusiness clans south of the Mason-Dixon line with a net worth north of $1 billion. Innovations with mechanical harvesters helped streamline operations at some 30,000 acres of Lykes Citrus groves, which produced more than 35 million gallons of orange juice. In addition to integrated cow-calf operations, Lykes Ranch also sets standards with its highly productive sugar cane and forestry programs. Briscoe Family 560,000 acres Successive generations of the Uvalde-based descendants of former Texas governor Dolph Briscoe Jr. — whose leadership helped eradi- cate the devastating screwworm — continue to work the family land throughout nine counties. History-steeped Catarina Ranch, spread over 100,000 acres, is regarded as some of the finest trophy whitetailed deer hunting in the world. W.T. Waggoner Estate 535,000 acres Dan Waggoner (1828–1902) established the Waggoner Ranch in 1849. His son, W.T. (1852–1934), expanded it even more. Today, the W.T. Waggoner Ranch is managed by codirectors A.B. "Buck" Wharton and Gene Willingham. The two oversee a massive cattle operation, a horse breeding program, crop production, and more. The iconic hold- ing, which ranks as the largest in Texas under one fence, has been on the market for $725 million since 2014. O'Connor Heirs 500,000 acres Legendary Lone Star cattleman Dennis Martin O'Connor, who in 1887 inherited his father's vast holdings in Aransas, Goliad, La Salle, McMullen, Refugio, and San Patricio counties, put down roots on 180,000 acres in Victoria County, where he proceeded to pioneer water-drilling operations that often struck oil. Fast-forward more than a dozen decades to a flourishing cow-calf operation catering to the heat-and tick-resistant Santa Gertrudis breed. Wilks Brothers 500,000 acres up 152,500 acres Texas-based brothers Dan and Farris Wilks earned their fortune in fracking. In 2011, they sold their 70 percent interest in Frac Tech to a partnership led by Singapore's Temasek Holdings for $3.5 billion. This year, they vaulted into half-million-acre territory thanks to expanded holdings in Montana. The duo's acquisitions generated plenty of buzz. A proposed land exchange between the Bureau of Land Management and Wilks Ranch Montana met with opposition from conservationists. The Wilks responded by offering access to the Lewis and Clark National Forest. Negotiations continue. Simplot Family 443,591 acres up 21,091 acres Sustainability serves as a guiding principle for Boise-based J.R. Simplot Company, which focuses on phosphate mining, fertiliz- ers, farming, ranching, cattle, food process- ing, and other agricultural endeavors. The mastermind behind the frozen French fry, patriarch J.R. Simplot was credited with "thinking green" long before the term existed. In 2015, the FDA approved the safety of Simplot's trademarked Innate potato varieties, which boast fewer black spots from bruising and stay whiter longer. Even competitors concede it's a game changer. Philip Anschutz 434,500 acres Marian Pfister Anschutz was a Kansas schoolteacher who hoped that her son would become a professor of history at Ft. Hays State Teachers College. Instead, Anschutz built the The Anschutz Corporation into a financial powerhouse whose varied interests 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 18 | No. 14 WYMAN MEINZER 11 | Waggoner Ranch cowboys get ready to ride out.