A Canadian pension fund has bought a huge parcel of Australian permanent water rights for $490M to irrigate almond trees, in a move that puts the spotlight on foreign ownership of farms and water resources as drought ravages the country.

In a rare rejection of New Zealand's Overseas Investment Office application, Canadians have been barred from buying more than 4500ha of South Island farmland.

The Chinese exodus from the east coast beef, lamb and cropping sectors is gathering pace, with recent divestments by Rifa Salutary and Union Agriculture surpassing $50 million.

Consistent interest from Saudi Arabia in direct investment in foreign agriculture, such as SALIC's recent purchase of 200,000 ha in Western Australia, will continue.

Cross Pacific Investments, which is backed by the Buratovich family of Argentina, has now spent more than $43 million on top end Australian land in the last few months, totalling just over 540,000 hectares.

Singapore-based Olam International has positioned Vietnam as an export center for Asia, symbolized by a massive pepper plantation in central Vietnam the size of roughly 150 baseball stadiums.

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.

Belgian sugar producer Finasucre has agreed to acquire the Winfield Road aggregation – the largest Macadamia portfolio in Australia – from Hancock Agricultural Investment Group for a record-breaking $59.2 million.

Europe’s biggest pension fund manager is set to expand its Asia portfolio "primarily with additions of co-investments, joint-ventures and investor-led platforms with a focus on farmland and timberland".

Terra Firma, founded by British multi-millionaire Guy Hands, has owned CPC since 2009 when it paid James Packer and partners about $425m for what was then a 5.6m hectare estate.

Overall, nearly $5b of sensitive land has changed hands in New Zealand through the Overseas Investment Office since the Labour-led government was formed.

Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board has made another move to deepen its presence in Australian agriculture, taking full ownership of the largest irrigated farmer in Australia.

Canadian fund manager PSP Investments, a public service pension fund, has put in an offer for Australia's Webster farms, including their water entitlements, that values the diversified agribusiness at $854 million

Leah Soroka, program manager for Eastern Europe and central Asia agri-finance with the World Bank's IFC, said the President's proposal to privatise farmland would be a game-changer.

A record amount of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest was cut down or destroyed last month, fuelling concerns that under President Jair Bolsonaro, illegal miners and farmers are involved in a free-for-all land grab.

Macquarie Bank has come under fire for land clearing operations undertaken by Viridis Ag, a farming enterprise owned by the banking group’s agricultural investment management business, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Asset.

The sustainability of food supply chains has become increasingly important in determining where First State Super, an Australian $75 billion superannuation fund, directs its investments.

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

Foreign ownership of Australian farmland is "overstated" when measured on a dollar-value basis, according to a new report by agribusiness lender Rabobank.

Rifa Salutary first invested in Australian agriculture in 2014 and now has 14 properties in western Victoria and northern NSW, with a land area totaling around 44000 hectares.

While Qatar has adopted a more indirect approach to its foreign agricultural investment and increased domestic production of some food products, it is unlikely that it will be able to significantly reduce its dependence on foreign food supplies in the long term.

According to asset managers, a window is emerging for institutional money to flow into agriculture due to change of ownership, notably in markets such as Australia and the US.

Australia’s big four banks; ANZ, the Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac are financing companies accused of land grabs, deforestation and labour abuses in developing countries according to a new report by Friends of the Earth Australia.

At least six people have been killed in a series of deadly Amazon land conflicts in Brazil, stoking fears of rising violence in the region under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

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

The Australian Government's long-awaited foreign ownership of water entitlement register reveals one in 10 water entitlements is foreign-owned at 10.4 per cent.

The Saudi Agricultural Livestock Investment Company has emerged as the likely buyer of Australia’s biggest single parcel of broadacre farming land, based in the Wheatbelt.

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has acquired Broetje Orchards, one of the largest privately-owned apple orchard operations in the U.S.

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.

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.