Livestock

The Agri Investor Australia Forum, held last week, saw constant discussion of natural capital’s potential – but the term was less familiar to international investors.

New Harvest, chaired by industry veteran Don Mackay, is aiming to hold a first close of A$150m before the end of 2022.

New Agriculture’s Bruce King and New Forests’ Mark Rogers discuss the new division’s strategy, what investors want from the asset class, and the potential blend of farmland and forestry into a single investment product.

QIC, New Forests and Macquarie Asset Management are taking different approaches to the nascent asset class, but there are common themes.

The median price per hectare of Australian farmland increased by 27% in 2021, with a double-digit rise expected again in 2022 before a slowdown.

QIC plans to raise at least A$500 million for the Queensland Natural Capital Fund, its first commingled agriculture and natural capital fund.

New Zealand Rural Land Co, which listed on the NZX in 2020, now owns 11,710ha of rural land on New Zealand’s South Island.

Tom Strachan was an executive director at Packhorse Pastoral Company and an investor in agricultural properties, after founding and selling labor hire company AWX.

CEFC’s investment will be used to help Paraway Pastoral Co achieve a target of cutting on-farm methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030.

The Premium Food Fund has made five investments to date and is 40% committed, with another two or three deals over the next two years set to take it to full deployment.