Macquarie Asset Management is stepping up its investment in farmland, taking control of Cowal Agriculture, a cropping enterprise affiliated with US-based Global Endowment Management.

A consultation paper on Australia's foreign ownership register for agricultural land is now available for public comment.

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

Mr Verghese says that Olam sees "sustainable value" in investing in agriculture, including farmland, and that GM crops are an inevitable "must".

Rising demand for leased farmland has convinced agricultural asset manager Growth Farms Australia to launch a 10-year investment fund which will buy mid-sized farming properties and lease them to primary producers.

Tim Hornibrook, head of Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management, obtained sensitive details about a competitor's profits, fee structure and returns by posing as a wealthy investor.

Saudi food firms have invested in Sudan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, but their respective political situations have forced investors to look for alternatives, with Pakistan and Australia looking to be a good fit.

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.

CBRE Agribusiness managing director David Goodfellow says large institutional buyers have a head start on family businesses.

Mr Hornibrook, who was a former head of Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management, along with some members of his sales team, were found to have extracted sensitive commercial information from a rival fund.

Financial services giant Challenger has forked out $41 million for a UK-based boutique funds management incubator and distribution group as it seeks to capitalise on rising investor interest in alternative and overseas assets.

Big institutional investors are being encouraged to get a slice of Australia's $1.6 billion market in annual water trading as a way to buy into agriculture.

A Chinese conglomerate has hit back at critics of its WA farming operations and vowed to press on with plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in an integrated supply chain from Albany to China.

Only a fool would believe Australia's agricultural development could be funded without foreign investment from sovereign wealth funds, according to Trade Minister Craig Emerson.

Macquarie Group's agricultural division has launched a new cropping fund that will buy large-scale grain properties in Australia and Brazil.

Australia's foreign investment regulator no longer believes private companies in China are free of Communist Party control, and plans on subjecting Chinese takeovers and deals, such as those for farmland, to more screening on national security grounds.

Deal with Greens guarantees passage of legislation to lower screening thresholds for foreign investments in farmland and agricultural businesses in Australia

"People are having their land stolen from them, literally, without even being aware it has happened, let alone consenting."

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill says all Special Agricultural and Business Leases, or SABLs, are under review and that those abused for forestry will be revoked.

Mauritian-listed JPT Capital Agrifund intends to invest Stg50 million ($A80 million) in wheat farms in Australia.

FPG owns and operates approximately 1,200ha of premium farmland across Australia where it grows table grapes, citrus, and berries.

A mansion in Melbourne's east, newly constructed units and more than 3,000 acres of Tasmanian farmland are among $17.3 million in property seized by authorities as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering by Chinese nationals.

Australia’s Macquarie Group has purchased a 49% stake in cotton farm Cubbie Station from a consortium led by Chinese conglomerate Shandong Ruyi for an undisclosed sum

One Tree Agriculture is owned by private equity fund manager, Proterra Investment Partners, which was spun off in 2016 as an investment advisory and private equity fund manager by Cargill’s Black River Asset Management.

Sundrop Farms has received a capital injection from private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts to aggressively expand its tomato growing operations in South Australia.

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, with an estimated $100 billion in assets, expects to start exports of grains and wool from Australia as it nears completion of a $486 million farm investment plan

Institutional investors are driving movement in Australia's poultry farm property market, underscoring sustained demand for agricultural assets that offer steady, passive income.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has decided against making further investments in farmland and is open to selling its existing portfolio, a shift in strategy after some local farmers voiced concerns.

Noble Group Ltd said on Tuesday it would sell its remaining 49 percent stake in its agribusiness to China's state-owned COFCO International Ltd

Hong Kong-listed Fosun International, a conglomerate with investments in businesses ranging from holiday resort chain Club Med to upmarket circus show Cirque de Soleil, is to buy 9% of German farm-operator KTG Agrar.