Clare Pennington

The improved deal for Monsanto has investors looking out for opportunities through divestments from the companies, which will be needed for the merger to gain approval.

The Chilean firm is launching its second agri-food fund and its first is 60 percent invested.

Detlef Schoen, principal at DS Assets and chairman at Aquila Capital Farms Australia, explains how he looks at the risk-return profile of farmland investing and why institutional investors are sometimes forced to invest at the top of a food commodity cycle.

The department merges the agriculture, infrastructure and real estate groups, and will be headed by Graeme Eadie.

The investment is part of ADM's strategy to improve efficiency for another portfolio company, Yeeda Pastoral.

Lewis & Clark Ventures, which was founded last year, has raised $20m for the fund so far, and will focus on plant life sciences, agtech and health-related assets.

The Paine & Partners investment in UK dairy Meadow Foods appears to be the first from a US private equity firm since Britain's Brexit vote.

The merger will make Farmland Partners the biggest US farmland REIT, with executives hoping the move will give the company further access to global institutional investors.

The USDA and private partners are investing $59m in projects that address water quality and conservation issues, with a third of strategies designed to attract further private investment into agricultural land conservation.

Philip Cummins has said the case for international institutions to invest in agri is 'very compelling' and highlighted some reasons Australian investors won't take the plunge.