Farmland Investment by Wall Street Drives Prices

Land Investors Crowd the Waiting Room, by Marcia Zarley Taylor (DTN Progressive Farmer)

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From time to time I’ve presented on the rising price of farmland, the barrier it presents to new and beginning farmers, and the trend of more investment from the world of finance, not just the world of farmers. The following article, which I have taken a short excerpt here speaks to this issue, and is an interesting read for those interested in how Wall Street may be driving farmland prices higher. Click on the title to read the full article.

Land Investors Crowd the Waiting Room,  by Marcia Zarley Taylor (DTN Progressive Farmer)

EXCERPT: So many Wall Street-types crammed the Waldorf Astoria in New York City last week for a global farmland and agribusiness conference that hosts warned the crowd of 600 not to block the fire exits. To me, that’s a sign that while the real estate owned by pension funds, insurance companies, foundations and family wealth funds remains a small fragment of the $1 trillion U.S. farmland market, there’s a lot of money sitting in the waiting room. When the Big Money Boys think the time is right to buy, U.S. farmland might get an even bigger lift than the phenomenal rally it’s enjoyed since 2004.

Also, for an even wilder look at a similar scenario through a different lens, check out this article from the New York Observer about Hedge Fund Managers “Becoming Survivalists” and buying farmland like crazy!