The Australian Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce is pushing for even tougher restrictions on foreign ownership of farmland and agribusinesses than those advocated by his party, fuelling Liberal anger at Tony Abbott's failure to rein in National Party ''freelancing'' on sensitive economic issues.

Australian farmers have demanded an overhaul of foreign investment rules ahead of any attempt to harness Asian capital to boost the nation's food production.

Papua New Guinea landowners are getting very little in the way of rent for vast tracts of land that have been leased out under controversial leases. Interview with Colin Filer.

Senator Bill Heffernan and the managing director of the Australian Agricultural Company David Farley join The Business to discuss overseas investment in Australia.

The 500,000-hectare station, located about 150 kilometres south-west of the Gulf of Carpentaria, is believed to have sold for about $33 million, and included about 28,000 head of mixed cattle in the contract.

Australian business council wants Qatar to invest more in food production in Australia, similar to what Qatar's Hassad Foods is pursuing.

Foreign companies from Korea, Qatar, US, UK and China are "secretly" buying up large chunks of NSW farmland by establishing shelf companies, trust funds, and extended settlements to avoid scrutiny.

A hedge fund run by an arm of the world's largest agriculture company, Cargill, has injected almost $40 million into a local company which buys Australian rural property.

Half of Gippsland's farmland could be foreign owned in a decade if current interest in the region continues on the same trajectory, two industry leaders have predicted.

Farming is a sector that Insight Investment, a UK asset manager best known for its expertise in investing in corporate bonds and government debt, has begun to target.

On his farm at Coleambally, NSW, John Ward admits he is feeling emotional about how foreign investment into Australian agricultural land has been handled.

An influx of foreign funds seeking Australian farmland has pushed lawmakers to consider legislation that would increase scrutiny of overseas purchases after foreign ownership of land almost doubled since 1984.

While interest in Australian agricultural land is coming from all quarters, it is the prospect of sovereign investment to shore up a nation's food security that is attracting the most attention.

A new report from ABARES which indicates little change in the level of foreign ownership of Australian farm land since the 1980s has been described as a "whitewash" by Shadow Agriculture and Food Security Minister, John Cobb.

A report from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Research Economic and Sciences shows the amount of farmland that is either partly or wholly foreign-owned has increased by nearly 60 per cent since the early 1980s.

Report examines the driving factors behind foreign investment in Australian agriculture and describes processes by which foreign investment in farmland is monitored and regulated in Australia and other selected countries.

Chinese company presidents met with Australian officials and company reps in Sydney to discuss ag investments, ranging from a $25 million, 20,000 ha cotton farm to a $350 million farmland purchase in ­Western ­Australia and Queensland.

The level and manner of foreign investment in Australian agriculture is sounding alarm bells amid growing concern that the nation's own food security could be compromised.

Foreign investment in agricultural assets would be subject to much greater scrutiny under a Coalition government, says Australia's shadow treasurer.

Overseas investors are snapping up prime agricultural land and rural enterprises, triggering concerns we're selling off the farm.

Foreign investors have spent a record $12 billion buying up Australian farmland and agricultural businesses over the past year, but have put off investing a further $14 billion until the outcome of a Senate inquiry in March 2012, a new report by Ferrier Hodgson says.

Tony Hales, managing director of Stadia Trustees, puts forward the case for including farmland in clients’ self-invested personal pensions (UK)

UK-based investors are planning a $400 million rural land fund to buy cotton and wheat properties in eastern Australia.

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.

PrimeAg chairman said while it was talking to domestic and offshore investors about taking part in the fund to reach a target of $600 million in funds under management within six months, it had grander ambitions.

Foreign investors have snapped up more than $12 billion in Australian farm land and agribusiness during the past year.

Commodities trader Jim Rogers, known for his investment prowess alongside George Soros, is in Australia to launch a new rural land fund which is seeking to raise up to $350 million to buy farms in northern NSW

Two of the last big Australian-owned sugar mills, Maryborough and Proserpine, could soon be sold to foreign buyers in takeover deals worth more than $350 million.

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.

"Because of the nation's limited agricultural resources, we have to look overseas," Jiang Hua, a COFCO board member said. The company is trying to connect China's consumer market with overseas supplies of commodities such as sugar, wheat and soybeans.