Chris Janiec
The sector is likely to see rapid consolidation but lucrative opportunities remain, CoBank's Christine Lensing tells Agri Investor.
A new energy and ag business will be established through the combination of Savage and Bartlett, which is also considering 'strategic alternatives' for its existing 100,000 head of cattle.
Canadian lumbering companies have been encouraged to look south by a pest infestation and recurring trade tensions with the US.
The TIMO is targeting around $250m for the vehicle which will invest in conservation easements as well as traditional timber production.
Triple T Timberlands, a joint venture with timber REIT CatchMark Timber Trust, is backed by a lender group that includes CoBank, Medley Management and an anonymous “major Canadian institutional investor.”
Chief executive Paul Pittman is adamant the REIT should remain a public company and suggested a final decision on whether to restructure would come within about two years.
A broker active in the region that is LandFund’s focus tells Agri Investor high-quality farmland there is current priced at between $5,500 and $6,000 per acre.
President Steve Bruere says the acquisition of half of Washington State's AgriBusiness Trading Group is part of an effort to be in each US farmland market drawing institutional investors.
Co-founder and president Joelle Faulkner explains to Agri Investor that she supports the ownership restrictions that necessitate distinct vehicles for partially and entirely Canadian pools of capital.
As conservation efforts assume a higher profile in timber markets, opposition to $50m in loans supporting a recent Pennsylvania timber purchase demonstrates the complicated politics that can accompany public sector financing.