"They're not talking about $2 or $3 million, they're talking about $20 million to up to $1 billion of investment in big projects," Peter Metcalfe, the director of grain industry development for Western Australia, said in an interview.

Financial players are moving aggressively to snatch up lands around the world with access to water for irrigation. Their strategy is to pump as much water as they can and as fast as they can into the production of crops that reap high prices in export markets.

Cargill’s global asset management business, Black River, has recently extended its Australian agricultural land asset portfolio, buying two Queensland cattle grazing properties near Mackay for conversion into higher-return sugarcane production.

Agriculture & Natural Solutions Acquisition Corporation announced agreement for a business combination with the iconic Australian Food & Agriculture Company Limited, one of the largest diversified agricultural portfolios in New South Wales

An Australian family, backed by one of South Africa's richest men, has bought its sixth Northern Territory cattle property, acquiring Larrizona Station for $17 million.

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announces the acquisition of Jasper Farms, Australia's second-largest avocado producer.

The suitors led by Shanghai Pengxin Group will instead work on a new structure for the takeover of S. Kidman & Co., while sticking with the same price tag for the 117-year-old cattle company.

Chinese giant New Hope will invest up to $500 million in Australian dairy farms in what could be the first of many deals fuelled by the historic China-Australia free trade agreement.

Global fund managers and some of the world's largest pension funds have bought more than $1.5 billion of agricultural land in Australia over the past three years.

Lakewood Asset Management is pleased to announce the launch of its latest agricultural asset project -- Australian Farmland in partnership with Agri Firma Capital of the UK.

Wrathall went to the the most remote and contested parts of north Western Australia to investigate stories of the forced closure of Aboriginal communities. What he found instead was a complex and complicated set of issues around the ways that huge mineral-rich region is being developed by government, big mining and big agriculture.

A Commission of Inquiry in Papua New Guinea has recommended an Australian-led company involved in obtaining leases over more than two million hectares of traditional land be investigated for criminal misconduct and conspiracy.

The Warakirri Diversified Agriculture Fund’s portfolio includes high-quality berry, citrus and soft-leaf vegetables, agri-infrastructure, and vineyard assets across five states.

When total foreign freehold and leasehold interests are combined China has the largest holding of 2.3pc, shadowed by the United Kingdom (2.2pc), the USA (0.8pc), Netherlands 0.7pc, and Canada with 0.6pc.

So much for the Ord as a ‘food bowl’. So much too for a new partnership with indigenous people. As in transactions with land-grabbers in poorer lands, the valued partnership now is with big money.

​Almost two years ago Oxfam revealed that Australia’s Big 4 Banks — the ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac — are backing agriculture and timber companies linked to land grabs in developing countries.

Hassad Foods' farmland purchases in Australia are guided by a risk minimising strategy. The lands are distributed across different climes and water regimes over a wide geographic area.

An Australian management fund has nabbed another slice of historic Tasmanian farmland from billionaire Chinese businessman Xianfeng Lu and his troubled dairy company.

In the latest deal, private equity-backed Stone Axe Pastoral has acquired the Moyhu Wagyu aggregation in Victoria’s King Valley from tax reform pioneer Bob Officer for about $25 million.

Saudi Agricultural & Livestock Investment Co. (SALIC) bought 200,000 hectares of farmland in Australia as the company explores global deals to expand its business.

US, Canadian, Arabian and Swiss interests are buying up multiple properties in around Stockinbingal, and the handful of Australian family farms that remain want the federal government to intervene.

Duncan Pruett reflects on the last 5 years at work advocating on the issues of land rights and foreign investments in agriculture.

The 25 farms of Van Diemen's Land Company in Tasmania are expected to be of interest to multiple trade investors, institutional investors, sovereign funds and also agricultural funds.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has taken Sierra Leone farmland investor Capital Alternatives to the High Court for “promoting and/or operating collective investment schemes (CISs) in the UK illegally and without our authorisation”.

Australian farmer Doug Clarke says farmers should not be criticised for making a commercial return from selling their farms to Chinese investors, if the government’s current rules and regulations allow it.

Human rights workers said risks to the rural poor over such deals are significant because they are regularly evicted to make way for foreign investors.

There will be plenty more scuffles between local populations and new global landlords. But, according to the Financial Times, such fights are unlikely to stem the tide of land investment.

The Rohatyn Group (TRG), a New York-based asset manager with expertise in forestry, agriculture, and emerging markets, announced it had completed the sale of the Kaiuroo aggregation to RFM for an undisclosed sum.

Journalist Richard Assheton visits the Ndiaël region in northern Senegal, where he meets communities fighting a decade-long campaign against the sale of 20,000 ha, now held by Frank Timis' African Agriculture Inc

Organisations call for a halt to IFC’s financing of industrial agriculture as it undermines the diversified, agroecological food systems that support food sovereignty