Blog Archives

Bill Gates: America’s Top Farmland Owner

Posted on January 11, 2021 by Eric OKeefe

By ERIC O’KEEFE The co-founder of Microsoft and his wife rank as America’s largest private farmland owners. Call it a hunch, but the story did not jibe. I scanned the headline for the umpteenth time and then read and reread…

Land Report Essentials: Browning Superposed

Posted on October 15, 2020 by Eric OKeefe

Devotees of the BROWNING SUPERPOSED will find their fealty rewarded with this sumptuous volume. By ERIC O’KEEFE In 1996, history’s best-selling over/under shotgun got its due when Krause Publications brought to market The Browning Superposed: John M. Browning’s Last Legacy…

Farmland Deal of the Year: California’s Cole Ranch

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Eric OKeefe

America’s Smallest Appellation Sells. BY ERIC O’KEEFE There’s a particular breed of wine aficionado who insists on having everything just right. Specific varietals in specific glasses. Serving temperatures not in a range but at a number: 49° for whites and…

Land to Table: Raw Pecans from Durham-Ellis Pecans

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Eric OKeefe

BY ERIC O’KEEFE Credit M.W. DURHAM SR. with creating this flagship brand a century ago. During the depths of the Great Depression, the Central Texas entrepreneur set out tables piled high with fresh pecans and paid eager locals by the…

Tagged with: Central Texas, Durham-Ellis Pecans, M.W. Durham, pecans
Posted in Agriculture, Editor's Choice, Eric OKeefe, Farming, Southwest, Texas

Beneath the Blue Ridge

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Eric OKeefe

Rich with history, blessed by Mother Nature, and graced by a world-class location, the offering of ELDON STOCK FARM ranks as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the savvy, conservation-minded investor. By ERIC O’KEEFE Long BEFORE LEWIS AND CLARK shoved off from…

Boone Pickens’ Mesa Vista Ranch Asking $220 Million

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Eric OKeefe

Two years have passed since Boone Pickens announced his intention to sell his Mesa Vista Ranch for $250 million. Known as the home of “the world’s best quail hunting,” the 64,809-acre contiguous tract was meticulously assembled and strategically enhanced by…

Next Steps for Treasure Hill

Posted on December 19, 2019 by Eric OKeefe

Park City approves open space status for landmark conservation acquisition. — Eric O’Keefe Yoga Berra would have made a world-class real estate broker. Consider the following words of wisdom from the Hall of Fame catcher: “It ain’t over till it’s…

Tagged with: Conservation, Park City, ski, Treasure Hill
Posted in Conservation, Developers, Eric OKeefe, Feature, Public Land, Recreation, Utah, West

Clint Eastwood Presents a Master Class on Stewardship at Tehama

Posted on September 15, 2019 by Eric OKeefe

By Eric O’Keefe Clint Eastwood Photography by Gustav Schmiege III Tehama Photography by Jason Speth Clint Eastwood is mesmerized. He puts lunch on hold and stares intently at the flat screen TV at the Saloon in the Clubhouse at Tehama.…

Food for Thought: Customer Connection

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Eric OKeefe

Each year, the Big Four – JBS, Cargill, National Beef, and Tyson – process more than 80 percent of the cattle that go to market. One of the by-products of this concentration is that many cattlemen have little or even…

Tagged with: Ben Higgins, Hearst Ranches, Whole FOods
Posted in Agriculture, California, Cattle, Eric OKeefe, Feature, Pacific

The SMS Brand

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Eric OKeefe

An energetic Swede, Svante Swenson established a 680,000-acre ranching empire north of Abilene. Texas history brims with rags to riches stories, but few can vie with the life and times of Svante “Sven” Swenson (1816–1896). A Swedish immigrant who arrived in…