Private Financial Sector Investment in Farmland and Agricultural Infrastructure

Private financial sector investment in agriculture is a small but rapidly growing phenomenon, involving large scale financial institutions, hedge funds and real estate investment trusts as well as private/public companies pursuing farm ownership/management strategies. This sector has been increasingly attracted to agriculture primarily because of current prospects for income generation, capital appreciation, and uncorrelated returns with equity markets and as a hedge against inflation. Little information has been available concerning the profile and role of private investment groups in this asset class or the impact they are having in the communities where they operate. In an effort to shed some light on these operations, a private consulting firm (HighQuest Partners)1 with a proprietary database of funds active in the crop land and agriculture infrastructure was contracted to undertake a confidential survey of private financial sector investment in agriculture.