WATCH: OTPP’s David Goodfellow: ‘Less panic now that the Chinese are out’

Every 30 years or so, Australia’s agriculture is hit by a tall wave of offshore capital. In the 1950s, UK money went Down Under on the lookout for wool; in the 1980s, Japanese investments pretty much created Australia’s cattle feedlot market.

The current decade is no different, David Goodfellow, chief executive of AustOn Corporation, the local unit of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, tells Agri Investor. In recent years, overseas dollars have rushed in to benefit from the productivity gains afforded by new technology, he says.

That is especially true of Chinese investors, leading to what he describes as a “heated market” and triggering a crackdown by the federal government. What has been the net effect of Chinese investment, and are regulators casting their net too wide?

Watch our interview to find out more.