The pension fund is reducing its allocation to real assets from 22% to 17% as it moves its agriculture allocation to zero.

London-based Stafford Capital Partners has raised €12m from three European pension funds towards its soon-to-be-launched follow-up to its Australian farmland fund.

Large institutional investors are pouring capital into global agricultural markets, and Australia has been a key target.

It is the first time the US pension fund has awarded a separate account for the asset class, although in February it announced it was investing $125m in International Farming Corporation’s US Farming Realty Trust III.

Denmark’s AP Pension is expanding its exposure to agricultural land in a proposed new deal to buy farmland in eastern Romania and lease it back to the Danish company operating farms on the land.

Sweden’s AP2 and UK local authority funds are among the backers of a new $3bn global agriculture fund.

Pension funds try to adopt a sustainability perspective when investing in farmland abroad, but there is not much consensus on what it means and how to measure it.

Dutch pension funds say they will remain invested in Wilmar International due to their successful efforts to engage with the controversial palm-oil company accused by many of land grabbing

Sweden's second buffer fund hopes to increase its agricultural and timberland investments beyond the current 10% strategic benchmark for real estate, the fund's chief investment strategist has told IPE

"In the agri-business value chain, there are various investment opportunities for institutional investors that go beyond the heavily criticised investment strategies of land grab and commodity speculation."

Sweden's SEK216bn (€24bn) buffer fund AP2 and TIAA-CREF have increased commitments to an agricultural property company launched last year to $2bn (€1.6bn), attracting interest from several Canadian investors.

The BT Pension Scheme has acknowledged that investing in agriculture land was a "real challenge" due to concerns over accusations of land grabbing.

PKA has defended its investments in African agricultural land, denying they are ethically dubious or constitute "land grabbing".

Fertile soil and good water supply – but lagging development – present a compelling opportunity for agriculture investors, finds Stephanie Schwartz-Driver

PensionDanmark's DKK 320 million (EUR 43 million) farmland investment will focus on agricultural production in Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda and Mozambique

Report on the growing popularity of farmland investment in the developing world for European pension funds