In a letter dated June 21, Attorney General Drew Wrigley's office asked the Red River Trust, an entity connected to Gates, about a recent purchase of a multi-thousand-acre potato farm, according to local news KFYR.

Wrigley's office informed the trust that all corporations or limited liability companies are strictly "prohibited from owning or leasing farmland or ranchland in the state of North Dakota" and "engaging in farming or ranching."

"In addition, the law places certain limitations on the ability of trusts to own farmland or ranchland," the letter said.

Red River Trust has 30 days to respond from June 21 to Kerrie Helm, the AG's Corporate Farming Enforcement Division, about the farm purchase.