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As land prices soar and the “Yellowstone Effect” historically sells off ranch land to billionaire outsiders, one Montana family is charting a different course to preserve the Old West.
Dale and Janet Veseth, owners of Veseth Cattle Co., donated 38,000 acres of their ranch to the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, the New York Post reported. The gift, valued at $21.6 million, is the largest land donation in Montana history and offers a potential blueprint for elderly landowners facing pressure from a hot real estate market.
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The donation comes amid turmoil in Western real estate markets. According to the Washington Post, citing Live Water Properties, the number of large ranch listings surged 250% last year. Wealthy buyers outbid traditional agricultural interests, often converting working ranches into private hunting reserves or luxury estates.
Recent benchmarks highlighting the trend include a 110,000-acre ranch in New Mexico listed for $68.5 million in March; a Wyoming ranch larger than Rhode Island listed for $79.5 million in August; and a 100,000-acre Wyoming ranch that the Marlboro Man rode through was listed in October for $52.8 million, according to the Washington Post.
For the Vises family, whose family has managed the land for three generations, selling to the highest bidder means risking destroying the property’s agricultural productivity.
Haylie Shipp, communications director for the RSA, told The Washington Post, “Whenever these lands are taken away from agriculture, it’s very difficult to get them back.”
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The average age of U.S. ranchers has climbed to 60, creating a succession crisis for the $113 billion cattle industry. Many aging owners don’t have heirs interested in cattle ranching jobs, making it attractive for developers or tech tycoons to exit for millions of dollars, The Washington Post reported.
According to The Washington Post, the Vises family, which has no direct heirs to take over their operation, donated the land to the RSA to ensure it remains a permanently operating ranch.
Under RSA management, these lands may be leased to young ranchers who have been priced out of their land titles. The incubator model allows new ranchers to establish cattle herds without paying the high land costs required to enter the industry.
The donation is causing ripple effects across the agricultural sector. The RSA told The Washington Post it has received inquiries from landowners from as far away as Kansas who are interested in a similar conservation-based succession plan.
According to the Washington Post, the Vises will continue to live and operate the ranch until their retirement, at which time RSA will assume full management control.
Image: Shutterstock
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