Europe

The first bilateral framework agreement between the two regions is set to benefit EU agri-food exports.

Cost rises and tighter supplies will put EU beef producers under increasing pressure.

Farmland prices in the country have tumbled 15% since their 2015 peak and ag investment has declined amid an unsettled future for the sector, industry insiders tell Agri Investor.

Savills and Deloitte are examining the offers for 13,000 acres of freehold farmland, which is expected to cost more than £200m.

Loan applications under the €100 million vehicle are being secured to help dairy farmers expand sustainably after the abolition of the EU milk quota production scheme.

The European Investment Fund and the Regional Council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine are launching a guarantee vehicle to modernize the agriculture sector in the region and capitalize on the trend towards organic production.

Director of agribusiness Natalya Zhukova tells Agri Investor how the goals and approaches that will guide sector investment through 2023 have evolved since the last strategy was written in 2010.

Hectare Agritech chief executive Doug Bairner says the company’s online marketplace is now used by 25% of UK farms and will launch in at least one European country next year.

The manager, which hit a first close on the €50m vehicle in March, will have deployed 10% of capital gathered once the transactions complete.

An alumnus from Macquarie’s Pastoral Fund has also joined the secondaries specialist just a year after the firm made its first investment in agriculture.