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$210 million sale of prime Washington farmland to LDS church approved

Anna King
/
Northwest Public Broadcasting file
Goose Gap Farm was one of several large swaths of farmland sold in a major auction in the bankruptcy of Easterday Farms and Easterday Ranches.

A federal bankruptcy judge in Yakima approved the nearly $210 million sale of a prime swath of southeast Washington farmland to The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints on Wednesday.

The 18,000 acres, which includes 12,000 irrigated acres, were once part of Easterday Farms and Easterday Ranches. A large-scale bankruptcy began with a massive swindle of 225,000 ghost cattle and has meant federal charges for Cody Easterday and the end of the family farming and ranching dynasty in Benton County. 

Nearly 30 dark-suited lawyers from Los Angeles, New York, Portland and Seattle were slapping backs and shaking hands as they entered the courtroom. They’ve been working with each other over Zoom and courtroom conference calls for months now but had never seen each other live.

After several breaks in which lawyers met in separate rooms to hammer out deals in whispers, the judge was able to finalize the sale.

The deal means the 18,000 acres, and its valuable Columbia River water rights, won’t go to Bill and Melinda Gates and their Cottonwood Ag Management. But the famous Northwest couple are the backup buyers if anything goes wrong.

The church's Farmland Reserve CEO Doug Rose said in a press release, “Our successful bid reflects our long-term commitment to Columbia Basin agriculture. We will be growing crops on these fertile fields for decades to come.”

The deal is expected to close in the next couple of weeks. It’s particularly important that the sale wraps up quickly, as it’s nearing harvest time for the wheat that was planted to stabilize the ground.

Anna King calls Richland, Washington home and loves unearthing great stories about people in the Northwest. She reports for the Northwest News Network from a studio at Washington State University, Tri-Cities. She covers the Mid-Columbia region, from nuclear reactors to Mexican rodeos.