Macquarie Group

Investment bank Macquarie Group is buying two farms in Australia's "wheatbelt" bringing its total holdings in Western Australia to 45,000 ha.

Pension funds try to adopt a sustainability perspective when investing in farmland abroad, but there is not much consensus on what it means and how to measure it.

This year could see a surge in interest in farmland from investors with very little experience in this complicated asset class, reports Euromoney

The wave of fund investment in farmland has reached only a fraction of its potential, even after hitting up to $40bn, with the potential to hit $1,000bn as it gains a "natural home" in portfolios.

Agricultural land represents an $8.4 trillion market, of which institutional investors own about $30 billion to $40 billion, according to Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management.

Macquarie Group Limited looks to be moving in on more agricultural investments with the launch of a new fund to target dairy farms in Australia.

Macquarie Group's new farmland fund, which is targeting farms in Australia and Brazil, has purchased its first two properties in Australia worth a total of almost $40 million.

Company now manages farms on 3.6 million hectares and believes that, overall, US$25 billion of institutional capital has gone into the acquisition of farms.

As the global financial downturn pushes investors into finding alternative business ventures, land investment has become an attractive proposition.

Group's $700 million international crop fund has been dealt a serious blow with new foreign investment restrictions on rural property in Brazil stalling its expansion.

Summary report of the conference hosted June 17, 2011 in Geneva, Switzerland

Hassad plans to spend $US350 million ($318 million) in Australia to secure food supplies for Qatar, which imports 95 per cent of its food.