Soil

Agri Investor visits Kilter Rural's seed asset in NSW to see how it will to transform a series of farms into carbon-positive and biodiverse natural capital assets.

The Australian vehicle has been preceded by a separate account worth ‘more than A$100m’ that is implementing a similar strategy and is about to close on two NSW properties.

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan will acquire KKR’s 49% stake in GreenCollar, with the latter’s workers set to share in the windfall through an employee ownership scheme.

Partner Christina Ulardic says many of the firm’s existing investors returned to back the firm’s second flagship vehicle.

The research body has found that farms with 'high natural capital' are more profitable in financial terms than those with more intensive farming operations.

Kilter Rural has used its initial capital raise to purchase several assets in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, with a pipeline of further assets nearby.

QIC acquired Stuart’s Creek, a beef cattle property with established carbon sequestration properties, from Packhorse via its Queensland Natural Capital Fund.

‘There isn’t resistance out of principle’ from Australian superfunds to investing in agriculture, but barriers remain, says CEFC’s Heechung Sung.

The close represents the first stage of a planned initial fundraise of A$65m, which will be used to acquire a mixed farming aggregation and water entitlements in NSW’s Southern Riverina.

CEFC and CDPQ will establish Wilga Farming, an open-end platform with A$200m of capital to be managed by Gunn Agri Partners, as well as taking a stake in the asset manager itself.