Values

The age-old method of valuing farming properties based on comparisons with neighbouring sales can help managers find undervalued acquisition opportunities, investment managers argued.

Stafford Capital Partners closed its $484m timberland fund of funds at the end of May. Partner Thomas Goodrich talks about the maturation of timberland as an asset class and why inefficiences in the sector make secondaries a good opportunity.

Many corporate and institutional investments into Australian agriculture have not performed well compared to the returns achieved by the family farm, argues David Cornish, principal at Cornish Consultancy.

The Australian beef cattle fund manager announced the lending facility during the same week as Beef Australia 2015, the industry event held in Rockhampton, Queensland, where speakers pointed to continued beef price hikes.

Illinois farmland prices will decline between 1 percent and 5 percent in 2015 according to nearly 50 percent of respondents to a survey conducted by The Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.

The longer-term impact of low oil prices on the agriculture sector remains the subject of much speculation, writes Andrew Wood, senior associate at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.

Figures released by Meat and Livestock Australia last month recorded a surprise jump in live cattle exports to Vietnam.

Plantings of semi-annual commodities such as corn, rice, sorghum and soybean fell as producers struggled with strong currency and falling commodities.

Recently falling food prices are not here to stay, according to Jane Harrigan, Professor of Economics at SOAS. But food-importing countries should be careful with their food security strategies.