Brazil

Pension funds and other corporate owners have spent only a tiny fraction of the billions of dollars they could invest in farmland, but they are definitely kicking the tires on potential purchases.

SLC Agricola has bought its second farm in Brazil's Piaui state in less than two months, expanding into a relatively undeveloped area where land prices are a fraction of those in more popular regions.

"I'm betting the current furor will end up dying down once Congressman Beto Faro's report is in. He's the Workers Party legislator in Brazil, tasked with measuring just how much foreigners control Brazilian farmland."

Report by HighQuest Partners for the OECD, October 2011, features 6 case studies of land grabbers: Agrica, CalyxAgro, Cazanae, Jantzen, NFD Agro and Quifel

Hassad Food Company is keen to secure food supplies for Qatar at reasonable prices through local and international investments in various countries, according to an article in the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry memorial book ‘40 Years of Excellence and Achievement.’

Changes to land laws are under discussion in Brazil, this time based on reciprocity. One result is that Chinese investors would be banned from buying any land in Brazil, as China does not permit private ownership of land.

Roger Ferguson, chief executive of TIAA-CREF, says his firm is increasingly acquiring farmland in the US, Eastern Europe, Australia and Brazil as long term investments.

Farmland investments may return 8 percent to 12 percent annually as global food demand increases, said the largest US pensions manager for teachers and academic researchers with $469 billion of assets.

BrasilAgro, which amassed some 170,000 hectares of land in less than four years, has turned seller, disposing of the first property which it bought for a price 10% higher than the start of the year.

In Brazil, government surveys found foreigners owned 10% of the nation's cultivated land. Much of that was funds with international backing in London or New York.

Commodities investor Jim Rogers has been appointed to the board of the farmland investment firm Genagro Ltd

With opportunities in neighboring countries almost finished and due to the expensive land, Brazilian agriculture has started showing up in Africa, here and there, but promising to grow.