The acquisition gives New York-based asset manager WisdomTree approximately $1.85 billion in assets under management across approximately 545 US farmland properties spanning 12 states, predominantly in the Midwest.
"The institutional investors are just starting to get into farmland," says Perry Vieth, president of Ceres Partners LLC
The traditional asset play on agriculture by Wall Street -- farmland -- has pushed to dizzying heights.
Investors are pouring into farmland in the US and parts of Europe, Latin America and Africa as global food prices soar.
So does this mean farming might now be a good place to make money? Some investors certainly think so, according to ETF Securities.
Agriculture opportunities are accessed through land purchase (for production of foodstuffs or, more recently, biofuels), through equity investments in companies associated with this theme or – as is the case for £143m Ceres Agriculture fund – through pure derivative strategies.
