Louisa Burwood-Taylor

Investing alongside two co-investors, the Australia and New Zealand forestry investment manager has created a new business called Forico to manage the 175,000 hectares of forestry plantations.

German airline Lufthansa has been working on establishing a biofuel investment fund to help secure an alternative fuel supply for its jets. Here Joachim Buse, vice president, aviation at the German airline, describes the process so far.

The German airline is currently talking to three investment firms about taking on a GP role for the fund, which will invest into farmland and basic processing.

Direct investing in agriculture appears to be picking up pace among institutional investors.

If mergers and acquisitions volumes are anything to go by, agribusiness investing is increasingly on the minds of corporates and private equity professionals worldwide.

The Danish pension fund has invested $53m into local farms and hopes to invest the same amount again before the end of the year.

The listed US farmland real estate investment trust issued $21 million in debt last week to fund the further expansion of its portfolio.

The Swedish pension fund is pursuing a more direct co-investment route for its timber exposure, having spent the past 10 years investing predominantly via third-party funds.

The Swedish pension provider wants to increase its allocation to non-listed real estate, of which agri and timber are a part, to 15% over the long term.

Big data and precision ag have been attracting VC attention. But what of other agri-related opportunities for the venture set?