Tom Taylor

Categorization, commodity risk and accessing scale are among the issues Australian superannuation funds cite when it comes to investing in agriculture – but foreign pension funds do not appear to have the same misgivings.

The venture arm of Prue Murdoch and Alasdair MacLeod’s agri-food focused investment group Macdoch is eyeing later-stage fund investments.

Rural Bank’s first-half analysis of Australian farmland shows values continue to rise but at a slower pace than the highs of the last four years.

Successive governments have made alterations to New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Act, creating a complicated regime for investors to navigate.

The battle for ownership of Australian cotton company Namoi Cotton has raised questions about competition within the industry as consolidation plows ahead in the agribusiness sector.

While investors have historically placed their climate and biodiversity efforts in different siloes, delegates at the first Global Nature Positive Summit say more value can be achieved by considering them holistically.

Biodiversity credit markets could follow a similar trajectory to carbon markets given a clear business case and the right policy frameworks, Pollination finds.

Farmland investment company WealthCheck also owes about A$6.2m to creditors, according to a preliminary report by its liquidators.

Despite improved returns on a quarterly basis, annualized returns on Australian farmland are in the negative for the third quarter in a row.

Adaptation to climate change and increasing agricultural productivity will be key areas of focus for Mandala Capital SSEA Food Fund.