Farmland LP acquires Olsen family farm in REIT’s 2nd deal

Regenerative agriculture-focused fund manager Farmland LP has acquired a property in the Willamette Valley, Oregon from Olsen Agricultural Enterprise, a family-owned farming business in Oregon.

This is the second acquisition for the firm’s agriculture real estate investment trust, its second investment vehicle, which is still fundraising and targeting $250 million. It is unclear how much has been raised to date. It held a first close last year ahead of making its first acquisition in the same region.

Held by the Olsen family for two generations, the property farms a variety of organic permanent crops including wine grapes and fruit. It was part of a 6,000 acre aggregation of owned and leased land by the family. The property’s operating assets were also acquired in the deal and the same management team will operate the farm under its new ownership, according to a press release.

“We have been looking at finding the right buyer for our extensive Willamette Valley farm holdings for some time now and when the opportunity came up to sell to Farmland LP, we recognized that this was the right way for our family to transition our assets,” said Roger Olsen, managing member at Olsen Agricultural Enterprises.

The property is the latest addition to Farmland LP’s growing portfolio of farms which it transitions to organic, regenerative farming assets. It now manages over 9,800 acres in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and the San Francisco Bay area. Most of these assets are held in its $50 million private equity fund.

“Today’s acquisition expands our capacity to serve the ever growing demand for locally grown organic food, and reflects our long term commitment to Pacific Northwest agriculture,” said Craig Wichner, managing partner at Farmland LP.

Farmland LP operates a combination of buy-and-lease and own-and-operate strategies on its assets.