March 2017

The Land Investment Monthly is a round-up of articles and headlines published by the farm press, business media and financial publications with insights into buying, selling or investing in farmland, recreational ground or development ground.

LAND EXPO
Politics, conservation and international trade were hot topics up for discussion during the 2017 Land Investment Expo presented by Peoples Company in West Des Moines. Iowa Farmer Today covers the remarks of keynote Dennis Gartman, an economist who shared thoughts on the value of “a weak dollar” and President Donald Trump’s idea to cut taxes and regulations. Speaker Michael Doane of the Nature Conservancy focused his presentation on soil health–emphasizing its importance as landowners work “to improve the value of their investment” and considering the impact on future generations. Read more.

FARMLAND’S FUTURE
A whopping 91.5 million acres of land, according to the USDA’s 2014 Tenure, Ownership and Transition of Agricultural Land Survey, are expected to transfer to new ownership in the United States before 2020. That represents 10 percent of all farmland, and doesn’t include the 57.1 million acres that landowners have put or plan to put into wills. Planning for this massive transfer of wealth is essential when passing farmland on to the next generation. A new white paper co-authored by Teresa Opheim of Practical Farmers of Iowa takes a raw, often emotional look at succession planning. Download a free copy of “Your Farmland and the Future.” Read more.

AGRITECH
The Iowa AgriTech Accelerator is set to host its first class in 2017, following an announcement that a total of seven companies had now each committed $100,000 in support of the initiative. Successful Farming reported that the application process would be open from April 3 to May 12, with the initial class slated to run July 10 through October 20. Graduation ceremonies will take place during the 2017 World Food Prize in Des Moines. Read more.

THE MERGE
The previously announced merger of Farmland Partners Inc. and American Farmland Co., forming the largest public farmland real estate investment trust in the United States, is now complete. The combined portfolio comprises more than 144,000 acres across 16 states with about 75 percent primary row crop farmland and 25 percent specialty crops, by value. AgProfessional.com reports that the total market capitalization had been pegged at approximately $400 million. Read more.

ACREVALUE  
Peoples Company has partnered with AcreValue, a site used by tens of thousands of farmland owners, buyers and renters across nation intent on understanding of the current value of their agricultural real estate, and also evaluating prospective land for purchase or rent. Peoples Company’s WhatsMyFarmWorth.com was launched more than a year ago. The new partnership will allow greater quantities of information and data to flow into the hands of users as they strive to make good decisions in the space. Read more.

WATER RULES
As of early February, approximately 42 percent of California had emerged from historic drought conditions, though heightened regulations that were inspired by what the state had declared an emergency in April 2014 lingered. The NCREIF Farmland Index showed that investors, for the three months ended December 31, held 233 agricultural properties worth about $3.89 billion, compared with approximately $3.23 billion in California farmland a year earlier. The Street, reporting on everything from water rights to land values and local producers, wrote that regulations have promoted many farmers to sell to investors such as pension groups and hedge funds. Read more.

DOWN UNDER 
The most expensive sale of Australia farmland is on the table pending interest from four buyers, including three from China and one from the Middle East, given that a property developer can convince the government to rezone sugarcane land. It was reported that 40 cane farmers formed a collective this past year to sell a combined 6,117 hectares, or 15,115 acres, as a single parcel of land. The region-in which the investors had hoped to build a new city with housing, hospitals, a university, theme parks and retail districts–could be worth in excess of $1 billion if rezoned for urban use. Read more.

Follow Steve Bruere @SBruere on Twitter and find Peoples Company on Facebook for the latest land listings, auction results, upcoming events and real estate news. To subscribe to my monthly updates via email, send a message to Steve@PeoplesCompany.com with “Land Investment Monthly” in the subject line.

Click here for a PDF version of Land Investor Monthly.