Wall Street is looking for ways to invest in America’s heartland, and the government is ready to play matchmaker.

At an agriculture investment summit in London on Wednesday, leading U.S. and European pensions funds said few assets remained immune from whipsawing markets, prompting institutions to look at farmland.

Agriculture & Natural Solutions Acquisition is a Nasdaq-listed SPAQ that recently acquired 200,000 ha of farmland in Australia through a business combination with Australian Food & Agriculture Company Limited.

Major asset managers, cowed by the cost, the risk and the controversy involved in investing in farmland, are joining forces to increase investment in the historically under-capitalised sector.

US and Canadian pension fund managers have submitted multiple bids for Australia’s $3bn Paraway Pastoral empire, and its vendors are assessing offers for the 4.4 million hectare agricultural business.

Une vingtaine d'organisations et alliés des communautés affectées par les plantations de palmiers à huile et d'hévéas du groupe Socfin expriment leur mécontentement face à la décision du Norges Bank Investment Management de ne pas se retirer de l’actionnariat de Bolloré SE et de la Compagnie de l'Odet SE

It takes a gallon of water to produce one almond. And that's not the most insane fact about the mad dash to plant the thirsty trees in the middle of a catastrophic drought in California.

Describing itself as a consultant and “master distributor” of products designed “to bring working capital to a variety of projects” – including upgrading farmland overseas and forestry –Intelligent Partnership published a 76 page report on the alternatives sector this week.

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation owns more than 540,000 acres of land in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, making it the single largest owner of foreign agricultural land in the US state.

Launched during the pandemic in mid-2020, Veripath Farmland Partners has already amassed a total of 115,000 acres under management in Canada.

"The whole mess in Europe at the moment has increased demand for diversification products for the Asian markets," says Aquila CEO Roman Rosslenbroich, including farmland.

Canada's public worker pension fund manager PSP Investments has made a significant stride in Australia's agricultural sector by acquiring a majority stake in Ellerslie Free Range Farms, a leading egg producer, for $180 million.

Pressure is mounting on Australia's superannuation funds to invest in agricultural land as investors protest about the industry's decision not to try and buy Australia's largest landholder S Kidman & Co.

New Forests' Global Landscape Opportunities strategy will in forestry, agriculture, and complementary markets such as carbon and biodiversity, in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile and other countries in Southeast Asia, Latin American and Africa.

One of Europe's top pension fund managers buys two New Zealand forestry plantations stretching over 45,000 ha, citing interest in long term development of carbon sequestration.

The proportion of PPF's £12bn portfolio of assets allocated to farm and timberland will vary over time and depend on the opportunities available now and in the future.

Chilean farmland investor Toesca and its London-based partner Astarte Capital Partners host an inaugural conference, with presentations from Nuveen Capital and Chile's public pension fund AFP.

Pension fund manager TIAA-CREF's farmland assets grew by 56% to $7.8 billion in committed assets.

Vaughan-Smith and his team of seven professionals are scouting for commercial farms in five countries — Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia — where conditions are deemed to be the most favorable.

US pension fund manager TIAA-CREF, under pressure to put cash to work after having raised $2bn for TIAA-CREF Global Agriculture, agreed to purchase 12,528 ha of farmland in Florida.

SilverStreet is scouting for commercial farms in five countries — Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

AAM Investment Group has sold its 14,074ha Sunshine Farms Aggregation in the Lachlan Valley of New South Wales for an undisclosed sum and the buyer is believed to be the US pension fund manager Nuveen.

Harvard University, the US pension fund manager TIAA/Nuveen and Japan's Mitsui are among the foreign companies buying up Brazilian farmlands that are responsible for over 420,000 ha of deforestation in the Cerrado since 2000.

Global agricultural investor the Westchester Group, owned by pension fund manager TIAA-CREF, is on the hunt to buy farms in New Zealand, after focusing its investment attention for the past 25 years on agriculture in the US, Australia and Brazil.

New Agriculture manages the Lawson Grains portfolio on behalf of its investor, Canadian pension fund Alberta Investment Management Corporation, or AIMCo.

PrimeAg Australia has agreed to sell 60 per cent of its land and water portfolio to US financial services organisation TIAA-CREF for up to $126 million.

The largest Swiss pension fund has excluded the Bolloré Group from its investment portfolio due to its links with the Socfin Group.

How US pension fund TIAA purchased farmland with a legacy of racism and murder

US pension fund manager TIAA provides an introduction to carbon markets for land-based investments in order to evaluate how carbon can be incorporated into land-based investment strategies.

Brazilian sugar company Cosan has purchased a stake in the land holding company Grupo Radar from the US pension fund manager TIAA for $278 million, giving it over 50% ownership.