Australia

The Australian Greens Greens say the government should be cracking down on foreign investors buying up Australian farms to protect not only the economy but also long-term food security.

Kevin Rudd has committed to double the amount of land for farming in northern Australia and simplify investment rules for foreign investors, to take advantage of the boom in Asian demand for produce

Middle Eastern investors are trying to buy up prime farming land on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. Some farmers who have been offered millions of dollars said they won’t leave at any cost.

China's biggest state-owned agricultural conglomerate has bought farmland and port facilities in Western Australia and the move has sharply divided responses.

Chinese meat firms are looking abroad to scout for potential acquisition targets among beef farmers and processors.

FORMER Macarthur Coal chairman Keith De Lacy is backing the potential $100 million float of a beef cattle company, with expectations that offshore investors will support the company's initial public offer.

Steep growth in Chinese olive oil consumption, unlikely to be met soon by a budding domestic supply, is encouraging investors to get hold of olive farms and processing plants in producing countries.

Companies linked to China's biggest agricultural conglomerate are being flooded with offers to buy or lease "hundreds of thousands" of hectares of land in Australia's Wheatbelt in the early stages of their bid to create an independent grain supply chain from the port of Albany.

China is headed to spend a record this year on food assets and farms after a $32.7 billion splurge in the past five years and just $4.2 billion in the prior half-decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Black River Asset Management, a hedge fund run by an arm of the world's largest agriculture company, Cargill, has increased its stake in the unlisted agricultural company BFB Group

There is "a wall of money" looking for a home in agricultural investments worldwide, say managers for BlackRock's London-based World Agriculture Fund.

Capital Alternatives, which offers investments ranging from holdings in African agriculture to pop memorabilia, claims it can generate returns of more than 20% over five years on West Australian wheat farms.