crops

Roc Partners’ Premium Food Fund was one of three buyers, alongside Primewest and another local buyer, for Harvard University’s Western Rosella portfolio.

Senior managing director Marc Drouin says underused irrigation infrastructure helped make the C$204.5bn pension’s entry into European ag a highlight within natural resources deployments last year.

Returns of annual and permanent farmland remain divergent, with annual farmland seeing robust figures following favorable weather conditions and high farmgate prices.

The two firms had steadily outbid each other over the past several months, with a final offer price now one-third higher than the first bid submitted by Macquarie in November 2020.

Confidence among farmers is strong after a bumper 2020 winter crop, with hopes that a repeat this year will set the sector up for years to come.

Post covid-19 challenges faced by small wineries in a market undergoing structural change were highlighted in a recent Rabobank report.

An improving commodity outlook and demand for passive investments meant annual cropland saw higher returns than permanent cropland in 2020 for the first time since 2001, said AgIS Capital.

The vehicle aims to raise A$500m in its first 12 months, providing loans of A$10m-$150m to counterparties across a variety of commodities.

OTPP’s AustOn will manage the new entity, known as Pomona Valley, with input from the current owners of the orchards.

The Melbourne-based GP is targeting 10-12% returns for its new vehicle, building on the 2019 launch of its Diversified Agriculture Fund.