​A business arrangement of interest: ‘I’m actually a soybean farmer”

By Darrell Dorgan

ddorgan695@aol.com

I’ve been digging around for information on a company called High Plains Acres. High Plains, which has a presence in Jamestown, Bismarck and five North Dakota counties, owned thousands of acres of North Dakota farmland until early December. It’s listed as an LLP, owned apparently by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his marital partner John Freeman. North Dakotans ought to be interested in this business arrangement.

Bessent was appointed by President Donald Trump. During his questioning by Senators prior to his appointment, Bessent said he would sell his North Dakota land interests if approved as U.S. Treasury Secretary. He was given until May 15 to meet the deadline but failed to do so. A sale would have avoided a potential conflict of interest that Bloomberg News says Bessent agreed to before May 15.

Bloomberg News has reported that Bessent was given an extension until December 15 to sell his land. It looks like he met that deadline. A New York Times story on December 7 reported Mr. Bessent as saying, “I actually just divested it this week as part of my ethics agreement, so I’m out of that business.”

Bessent told Senators he was a North Dakota farmer at his Senate approval hearing after questions were raised about President Trump’s plans for tariffs and the growing price of groceries and other products that could result. The cost of groceries like coffee and beef have risen dramatically and the prices offered farmers for crops like corn and soybeans have dropped precipitously as markets like China have quit buying U.S. crops because of disagreements over tariffs, in which Bessent has participated.

Agweek says Bessent and his partner Freeman owned farmland in several North Dakota counties with a value of $5-$25 million dollars.

The New York Times noted in August federal ethics statutes prohibit government officials from handling government matters in conflict with their own interests or those of their spouses. As Treasury Secretary, Bessent has been involved in policy decisions involving taxes, inflation, prices and trade policy — and has actively promoted tariffs, which impact the value of crops on his land and the land itself.

In the extension agreement granted by the Government Ethics Committee, Bessent again agreed to recuse himself from matters that would conflict with his duties as Treasury Secretary by December 15. However, as a key economic advisor to President Trump, it appears he has been involved in negotiations including tariffs that have substantially impacted the economy of rural America.

There are millions of bushels of corn, soybeans and other grains laying in fields that cannot be sold to other countries because foreign buyers, including China, object to new tariffs. Now President Trump has slapped new tariffs on Canada, but says he’s confident agreements with Asian interests will be solved soon. However, Canada is the largest trading partner of the U.S., and it does not appear they will be part of any new world trade agreement.

In November, a Reuters photo showed Bessent emerging from a meeting with Chinese officials in Malaysia that he indicated would solve the crisis of unsold soybeans and other grains to the Chinese and make American farmers (and presumably himself) happy. It would appear his participation may be a violation of the ethics agreement to dispose of his land and fiscal holdings that would be impacted by an agreement with the Chinese.

Economists fear the economy of farm country is on the financial edge unless tariff sales agreements can be agreed to.

Freeman, Bessent’s husband, was also recently appointed to the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) by President Trump despite the current administration’s regulations against gays in the military. And unlike others appointed to the ten member ABMC board that governs 26 American military overseas cemeteries, Mr. Freeman is not a veteran. He is a former New York attorney involved in real estate and, according to news reports, lives with Secretary Bessent.

In addition to listing Jamestown and Carrington, the two also list 1515 Burnt Boat Drive, Suite C in Bismarck as a corporate headquarters. The Burnt Boat Drive building is home to a small group of storefronts, including an insurance agency, an ice cream parlor and Suite C, which is actually a UPS store where you can have mail delivered to a box. Why is a UPS box the place where a major land company receives mail?

“I’m actually a soybean farmer,” Bessent told CNBC in October. Hmmm. I wonder if he got done combining his soybeans before the snow came and he sold the land.