How Opportunity Zones Could Become a Turning Point for Rural America

Rural America has long faced a familiar set of challenges: declining populations, limited access to capital, and fewer economic opportunities for younger generations. But according to Ron Diamond, Diamond Wealth Founder and Chairman, a powerful and relatively new policy tool may help change that trajectory: rural Opportunity Zones.

Diamond told American Farmland Owner that outside investment could be the missing ingredient rural communities need to regain momentum.

“I think it’s going to be outside investment,” he said that could bring new momentum to shrinking towns. “They’re creating these rural Opportunity Zones right now, and that’s incenting people to invest in more rural areas. And I think that’s going to be the driver.”

Diamond is a family office adviser and guides more than 100 wealthy families or individuals with their business and philanthropic efforts. Connecting those families with the concept of Opportunity Zones could bring much-needed investment to small town America.

RELATED: Here is recent tax guidance from the Internal Revenue Service on Opportunity Zones under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Tax Advantages of Opportunity Zones

Opportunity Zones were designed to encourage long-term investment in economically distressed areas through meaningful tax incentives. What’s coming next could be especially impactful for agriculture and small-town America.

“In 2026, there’s going to be a new batch of Opportunity Zones that come out,” Diamond explained, “and there are specific ones for rural where you’re getting a 30 percent discount versus a 15 percent discount in the regular opportunity zone.”

That distinction matters. Family offices and long-term investors are highly sensitive to after-tax outcomes, and rural Opportunity Zones tilt the math decisively toward places that may have previously been overlooked.

“You have to bring in money,” Diamond said. “And how do you solve that? Figure out ways to make it advantageous from a tax standpoint.”

Once capital flows in, Diamond believes the benefits compound. “Once money starts coming in, then I think the communities can pick up,” he said.

Opportunity Zones’ Importance to Rural America

For rural America, that could mean investment not just in land, but in infrastructure, processing facilities, housing, renewable energy projects, and locally rooted businesses that create jobs.

Agriculture, in particular, aligns naturally with the mindset of family offices. “Families look at things not how is this going to do in three to five years,” Diamond said. “They look at things over generations. And I think a lot of farmland is a multi-generational thing.”

That long-term view sets family offices apart from traditional private equity investors. Diamond illustrated the contrast with a hypothetical Midwestern manufacturing company.

Under private equity ownership, he noted, businesses often change hands every five years, creating disruption and inefficiency. “If you look at the taxes and the friction and the inefficiency and the disruption in business versus a family office who could buy it, hold it for 20 years, and let it compound, the results aren’t even close.”

That same logic applies to farmland. “Family offices are going to be a more likely buyer of agricultural land, which is a more long-term play,” Diamond said. “And so yes, I like the asset class a lot.”

The coming wealth transfer only heightens the stakes. Trillions of dollars are expected to move to younger generations in the coming decades, including within farm families. While Diamond acknowledged the risks of widening inequality, he sees Opportunity Zones as part of a broader solution.

Opportunity Zones Could Help Middle Class

“From a societal standpoint, if you want the country to do well, you want the middle class to do well,” he said.

What investors choose to build within Opportunity Zones is less important than the incentive itself. “It doesn’t matter,” Diamond said. “Once something is an opportunity, you can start manufacturing, you can start a venture capital firm. You’ve got the tax benefit.”

Ultimately, Diamond believes rural areas—especially places like Iowa—stand at an inflection point. Family offices are increasingly focused on after-tax, long-term returns, and rural Opportunity Zones offer exactly that. “I think family offices are the best strategic partners,” he said. “…They look at things over the long term. And they look at things after taxes.”

RELATED: Ron Diamond explains on the American Farmland Owner Podcast what his clients talk to him most about, and it is not money.