Land
Investment
Rising investor interest coupled with the need for outside capital to finance land purchases led Peoples Company to develop a proactive Land Investment Program that identifies investment grade opportunities for investors. We also source capital for proven operators looking to tenant farm.
Thanks to its associated business entities, Peoples Company is one of the few firms whose core competencies cover all aspects of land transactions, including brokerage, appraisal, asset management, acquisition, and finance.
How We Operate
Each January, Peoples Company hosts the Land Investment Expo. This key conference fosters relationships with institutional and individual investors. It also develops new relationships with potential clients nationally and internationally. Peoples Company associates also attend the Global Ag Conference, the Agri Investor Forum, and NCREIF.
Peoples Company offers a variety of investment services in conjunction with its affiliates: Alternative Equity Advisors, DST Farms, Ag Capital Advisors, and mAgma.
Alternative Equity Advisors (AEA) is a real asset investment firm specializing in the acquisition and management of agricultural farmland assets in the U.S. for private investors such as family offices, endowments, foundations, high net worth individuals, and institutional investment firms. AEA acquires and manages farmland assets for each client on a separate account basis, and every asset is acquired within the client-directed investment mandate. AEA’s asset management platform implements value-added production strategies, including organic and regenerative agriculture, sustainable sourcing, and data-driven agriculture. Through active farmland management, AEA is able to maximize asset performance and long-term appreciation.
Ag Capital Advisors (ACA) provides highly flexible financial solutions to farmers and investors. This entity has brokerage relationships with major agricultural lenders such as MetLife and FarmerMac. ACA also manages a high-yield fund that finances real estate with high loan-to-value or high-risk loans. ACA offers both fixed and variable-rate term financing at competitive rates and can structure creative bridge and mezzanine financing for transitioning operations. This business unit has a unique framework and enjoys a nationwide network of debt and structured financing sources and options.
mAgma is the world’s first digital marketplace to enable farmers and landowners to raise money through tokenization of their farms. mAgma uses blockchain technology to create and issue digital, fractional shares of land and then sells those tokens (shares) to retail investors. This tokenization of farmland makes it easier for farm owners to sell their land, to generate cash flow to be used to buy other farmland, or to cash out family members. mAgma also enables retail investors to easily invest smaller sums ($1,000 to $10,000) into farmland for the first time ever.
DST Farms provides Section 1031 Exchange investors with specialized opportunities to directly engage the farmland asset class through Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) investment vehicles. As a sponsor entity, DST Farms identifies high-quality farmland that has the potential to deliver above-market returns and long-term capital appreciation while mitigating investment risk. The application of the DST vehicle to farmland allows investors to take direct ownership of an asset class that historically requires capital on a level that is often beyond the means of many investors.
Industry Research
Peoples Company is proactive and works hard to anticipate the needs of those in the agricultural sector. We have co-authored two white papers entitled Socially Responsible Farmland Investment and Your Farmland and the Future.
Socially Responsible Farmland Investment
Dr. Mike Duffy and Steve Bruere
This thought-provoking paper asserts that changing demographics is driving a trend by next-generation landowners to manage for appreciation and create sustainability through socially responsible farming.
Your Farmland and the Future
Teresa Opheim and Steve Bruere
With around 10% of all farmland changing hands in the next few years, farm succession planning is no longer optional, it’s essential. The future of farmland ownership is set to look very different in the coming years.
Understanding the Effect of Organic Certification on U.S. Farmland Rental Values
Erin Leonard and Ryan Koory
Mercaris surveyed 109 certified organic landowners and renters across the country, concentrated in the Corn Belt and East Coast, about their cash rental values to determine if certified organic land values differed from conventional land values within these regions.
Peoples Company Affiliates
