Canada

Canadian pension funds just can’t get enough of Australian farmland.

Maple Agro Farms Corporation announces it has entered into a Letter of Intent with Traditional Authorities for the proposed acquisition of a 50-year renewable leasehold interest over 4,690 hectares of agricultural land located near Begoro in the Eastern Region of Ghana to develop oil palm plantations

L’acquisition des terres agricoles par des investisseurs de l’extérieur de la région se poursuit dans La Mitis, au Quebec. Actuellement, la MRC estime que près de 12 % de son territoire agricole est concentré dans les mains de grandes organisations de capitaux privés.

Manulife Investment Management has listed nearly 20,000 hectares of prime NSW farmland, 53,227 megalitres of water rights and a mature almond orchard, which it purchased from the Harvard University endowment fund in 2020 in a deal worth more than $120 million

A US company’s pursuit of farmland in British Columbia, Canada has reignited calls for stiffer foreign ownership rules.

Ontario Teachers’ other Australian farm investments include Aroona Farms (almonds in Victoria and South Australia), Jasper Farms (avocados in Western Australia) and Montague Farms (apples, stonefruit, cherries, table grapes and citrus in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania).

Critics say the owner of East Maui Irrigation, Canada's PSP Investments, has a broader goal of acquiring water rights for irrigation at relatively low prices in places where the natural resource is becoming increasingly scarce and eventually selling them for much more.

Acelen already has macaúba plantations in the municipality of Cachoeira (Bahia), where quilombola and shellfish-harvesting communities say the installation of fences and signs restricts access to areas historically used by them for economic activities and religious practices.

When combined, Altora Ag and AFF, both owned by Canada’s PSP Investments, will farm on over 270,000 hectares across Australia.

Investors expected to attend the Global AgInvesting event include APG Asset Management, one of Europe’s largest pension investors, Canada’s Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank.

Farmland prices are higher than ever, perhaps due to the increased interest of investors. Add in tariffs, climate change and high prices and the financial squeeze is ruining many farmers — small and large

The financial woes Monette Farms is tangled in raises the spectre of how both Canadian agriculture and Prairie culture could increasingly come under pressure from mega-farms.