A $150 million deal to sell N.C. State’s Hofmann Forest to an Illinois farming empire is nearly complete—but an injunction hearing to block the sale is still scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 12.
The forest owners, N.C. State University’s Board of Trustees of the Endowment Fund and the North Carolina State Natural Resources Foundation, Inc., plan to unload the 79,000-acre property to Jerry Walker, who owns and manages Walker Ag Group. The family-run business operates in at least 23 counties in seven states. It is based in Danville, Ill.
A coalition of professors, foresters, landowners and wildlife conservationists are suing the university over the proposed sale, saying the environmental impacts could be significant.
Walker, a third-generation farmer, is the prospective buyer of the property near Jacksonville. He is also the sole officer listed for Hofmann Forest LLC, a company filed with the N.C. Secretary of State’s office on Jan. 30—12 days after N.C. State announced it was selling the forest.
Walker’s farming operations are substantial; they have received more than $18 million in federal conservation, commodity and disaster subsidies since 1995, according to an Environmental Working Group database, making his business among the top recipients in Illinois. The EWG sources its data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
From IndyWeek: https://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/group-still-suing-to-block-sale-of-hofmann-forest/Content?oid=3760538