Episode #480: Craig Wichner, Farmland LP – Cultivating Wealth with Sustainable Farmland Investing – Meb Faber Research

Episode #480: Craig Wichner, Farmland LP – Cultivating Wealth with Sustainable Farmland Investing

Visitor: Craig Wichner is the Founder and Managing Companion of Farmland LP, a number one funding fund that generates returns by changing typical business farmland to regenerative sustainable farmland.

Date Recorded: 4/19/2023     |     Run-Time: 1:00:38

Abstract: In immediately’s episode, Craig begins with an replace on his firm after which shares how larger inflation and the shifting macro surroundings has affected farmland as an asset class, particularly after 2022 when actual property have been one of many few property that didn’t have damaging returns.

Then we dive into the financials of an acquisition they made from a 4,000 acre, 150 yr outdated farm in Northern California again in 2013 for just below $30 million. Craig walks by way of the funding and timeline to transform the farm to natural, the advantage of the conversion, and the way it helped the farm be re-appraised for simply over $75 million final yr.

Craig shares some nice slides throughout the episode, so if you wish to watch on YouTube, click on under.

Take heed to Craig’s first look in December 2020 right here.

Sponsor: YCharts permits monetary advisors to make smarter funding choices and higher talk with shoppers. YCharts provides a set of intuitive instruments, together with quite a few visualizations, complete safety screeners, portfolio building, communication outputs, and market monitoring. To begin your free trial and make sure you point out “MEB ” for 20% off your subscription, click on right here. (New shoppers solely)

Hyperlinks from the Episode:

0:39 – Sponsor: YCharts
1:48 – Intro
2:56 – Welcome Craig to the present
4:00 – Episode #276: Craig Wichner, Farmland LP
4:09 – The expansion of Farmland LP since 2020
7:00 – Leverage ratios between multi-family actual property, workplace buildings, and farmland
8:00 – The farmland sector’s constructive correlation with inflation
14:10 – Why there’s a scarcity of natural farms
23:25 – Strolling by way of an actual case examine
26:52 – How Farmland LP calculates how a lot debt to make use of on a farm
28:10 – The valuation of dry land and water
36:00 – The supply of Farmland LP’s funding capital
37:00 – The mechanics of the upcoming launch of Fund III
44:30 – The position that automation performs in farming
48:40 – How Farmland LP acquired the very best ever ESG rating from the most important agency
53:12 – Authorities-subsidized natural crop insurance coverage
55:15 – What the longer term seems to be like for Farmland LP
56:40 – Farmland LP’s upcoming investor occasions; study extra at farmlandlp.com; electronic mail [email protected]

Transcript:

Welcome Message:

Welcome to the Med Faber Present, the place the main target is on serving to you develop and protect your wealth. Be a part of us as we focus on the craft of investing and uncover new and worthwhile concepts, all that can assist you develop wealthier and wiser. Higher investing begins right here.

Disclaimer:

Med Faber’s the co-founder and chief funding officer at Cambria Funding Administration. Because of business laws he is not going to focus on any of Camber’s funds on this podcast. All opinions expressed by podcast members are solely their very own opinions and don’t mirror the opinion of Cambria Funding Administration or its associates. For extra data, go to cambriainvestments.com.

Meb:

At this time’s episode is sponsored by my buddies at YCharts. For those who’re a monetary advisor, hear up. By now you recognize YCharts allows you to see return knowledge, worth charts and different data, however now they’re taking it to an entire nother degree by serving to you create customized stories and displays to reinforce conversations with shoppers and prospects. With its simple drag and drop design, the report builder permits you to customise over 30 visuals, making it nice for assembly with prospects and shoppers throughout quarter or year-end evaluations. You may even add your personal visuals and your agency branding colours and emblem. Their new replace permits for customized storytelling, supplying you with the flexibility to tug in save tables and charts, or add customized textual content packing containers that advisors love so as to add disclosures for our buddies in compliance. Make your life simpler. Give YCharts a try to streamline your course of of creating displays. YCharts is providing new subscribers who’re listeners of the present a 20% low cost. Click on on the hyperlink within the present notes or go to go.ycharts.com/meb2023. That’s go.ycharts.com/meb2023, or simply click on on the hyperlink within the present notes.

Meb:

Good day all people. We’re heading again all the way down to the farm immediately with returning friends. Craig Wichner, founder and managing companion of Farmland LP, the most important farmland supervisor centered on natural farmland now managing over 1 / 4 billion {dollars} in property and 15,000 acres of farmland. At this time’s episode Craig begins with an replace on his firm, after which shares how larger inflation and the shifting macro surroundings has affected farmland as an asset class, particularly after 2022 when actual property have been one of many few ones that didn’t have damaging returns. Then we dive right into a case examine of an acquisition they made from a 4,000 acre, 150-year-old farm in Northern California again in 2013 for just below $30 million. Craig walks by way of the funding and timeline to transform the farm to natural, the advantages of the conversion and the way it helped the farm be reappraised for simply over $75 million final yr.

Craig shares some nice slides throughout the episode, so if you wish to watch it on YouTube, click on on the hyperlink within the present notes. And should you aren’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, what are you ready for? Nearly 15,000 buyers are subscribed, so hop on over. Please take pleasure in this episode with farmland LPs. Craig Wichner. Craig, welcome again to the present.

Craig:

Meb, nice to see you.

Meb:

You have been final right here in late 2020. I’m excited to get a catch-up. What’s occurring in your life, your world? The place do we discover you immediately? This stunning, for these not watching on YouTube, this stunning [inaudible 00:03:13] within the background. The place are you?

Craig:

Simply north of San Francisco close to Larkspur.

Meb:

Let’s get just a little replace briefly in your firm and agency, then we’ll discuss all issues farmland, macro after which again particularly to y’all’s farms. However give us the replace since 2020. Did I see you guys at the moment are on the fund three?

Craig:

We’re nearly to launch fund three. We really simply yesterday closed a 1100 acre property. That’ll be the primary property in fund three.

Meb:

Congrats. The place was the closing?

Craig:

Oregon within the Willamette Valley. Good natural blueberries, wine grapes, hazelnuts, stunning floor, stunning groundwater rights or water rights usually. Nice rising local weather.

Meb:

Yum. All proper, effectively catch us up on the corporate. We’ll put up the present word hyperlink listeners if you would like the sort of intro episode. However stroll us ahead since 2020, what have you ever guys been as much as?

Craig:

Nice. Nicely, we’re as much as round $250 million in property, about 15,000 acres, 16,000 acres of farmland. Now, for the individuals who don’t know, we purchase typical farmland, Farmland LP buys typical farmland and converts it to natural regeneratively managed farmland as an funding fund. And we actually simply deal with including worth to farmland. Enterprise has grown a bit as effectively. Now we have about eight folks in fund administration and 45 folks in farmland administration, and we lease out two thirds of our acres and we farm a couple of third of the acres ourselves and our farmland is positioned in Northern California, Oregon and Washington.

Meb:

Nicely, one of many huge issues that has actually modified or accelerated, we may do loads of completely different adjectives, since we final spoke is a, I imply multi-decade outlined regime that appears to have shifted, which is of one among declining rates of interest and bottoming to 1 the place unexpectedly rates of interest have shot up and inflation. Which is one thing that we haven’t seen in america or has been a priority for 40 years, actually. Inform me just a little bit about that. We discuss farmland market usually. You can provide us an replace overview of the macro and the way it’s impacted curiosity and every part you guys are doing in your world.

Craig:

It looks as if this extremely therefore time. One of many issues that I like about farmland is that there’s $3.8 trillion price of farmland within the U.S. Identical financial worth as the entire workplace buildings within the U.S. or the entire condo buildings within the U.S. However once more, 40% of farmland is leased. Farmland actually is business actual property like these different asset lessons. However there’s little or no debt on the farmland sector. And possibly I’ll simply put up a fast slide for you guys for-

Meb:

Yeah, I’d like to see, you’ve a terrific deck. If we are able to’t share broadly with the listeners, possibly you’ll allow us to share a few of the slides in these present notes. However there was actually two huge takeaways from our final episode that actually have been a shock to me, for somebody even who’s been a very long time Farmland participant investor. The primary was the statistic you simply dropped, which is absolutely the magnitude of the scale of Farmland. And you’ll see on the slide relative to, wow, it is a nice slide. Relative to numerous sorts of business actual property workplace and we really simply did an episode on timber, so the timber business too. All proper, we’ll hand it again to you.

Craig:

Nicely, that’s nice. The subsequent half about it’s the leverage ratios. So multi-family is round 51%. LTV workplace buildings are round 78% LTV in your entire sector, $3.2 trillion price of workplace buildings, 78% of that’s debt. And that’s why you see actually large adjustments occur when you’ve rates of interest go up or have any credit score points. Farmland, there’s solely 13% LTV on your entire sector, so actually tremendously little debt and about half of that debt is simply working strains. It’s not even the land being leveraged, however I embrace that within the quantity simply as a worst case comparability. And solely 2% of farmland is institutionally owned. It actually is that this, it’s not correlated with the debt markets. It’s been onerous historically to get into as an institutional investor and even as a person investor.

I do know you’re personally an proprietor in Farmland, which is nice, and it does really positively correlate with inflation. Truly, I’ll go to the subsequent slide right here only for background. And the quick story on that is that over the a long time since 1970 farmland returns have crushed inflation by 6.2% per yr. And the mechanism of that’s really simply, it’s actually easy and straightforward when you perceive it, which is that rents on farmland, 40% of farmland is rented, as I stated. And the lease charges are principally pushed by the worth of the crops that develop on that land. And in order you improve the worth of the crops, it will increase returns to the farmers and the landowners. And that leads to improve in asset worth as effectively over time. And so very merely, as meals costs will increase, which is the definition of core inflation, meals costs go up, the farmers’ income per acre goes up, they’re rising the identical quantity of meals and just a little bit extra every year with productiveness will increase and that will increase the returns per acre on the farmland and will increase the asset worth as effectively.

That actually has pushed these nice returns plus productiveness will increase over time. And that’s actually the core of our technique, which is to extend the worth of the crops grown on that land, not depending on inflation, however really we’ve demonstrated that we purchase farmland that generates rents of $300 an acre, take it by way of a three-year natural conversion course of and get rents of $750 an acre on that land.

Meb:

The analogy to business actual property is so relatable I really feel like for many individuals as a result of most individuals have grown up clearly with actual property, even when it’s only a private expertise, but it surely’s just a little extra tangible I really feel like for many. For these of us who’ve grown up both on a farm or subsequent to a farm, it’s a really related psychological idea, the business actual property rents versus farmland. What’s the easy takeaway, by the best way, why we’re on this chart, of why actual property has such a better LT V is it’s just because it’s institutionalized and securitized that debt is such a serious a part of the transaction versus farmland which has simply traditionally been owned outright. What’s the rationale?

Craig:

The banking system may be very conversant in business actual property as an asset class. Multi-family workplace buildings, the banking system is absolutely designed round that. In farming, in agriculture, you had some debt will increase in principally the ’70s and you then had a farm disaster of debt disaster in late ’70s, early ’80s. And banks have been principally foreclosing on farmland that was not fashionable with farmers and you’ll principally have farmers boycotting the auctions that they might have. And so lenders didn’t wish to lend into the house, farmers didn’t need something to do with the banks as effectively. And a part of that was induced, really … What drove it’s in 1971 the U.S. modified its agricultural coverage to inform everybody to principally plant fence put up to fence put up and get huge or get out. Previous to that, previous to 1971, the coverage had been rather more round conservation.

About 10% of the farmland was all the time not farmed and in conservation reserve applications. 1971 rolls round and due to some political points with Russia, the us on the time, the coverage grew to become, let’s overproduce corn and drive down the worth. You had lots of people taking over debt to plant extra corn after which the worth declines induced issues with solvency for them with all of the debt.

Meb:

And I feel with anybody who’s been burned by debt too, you get some PTSD or actually any kind of market surroundings that burns you as soon as. You have got a really vivid reminiscence of that. I think about a part of that’s a part of the story too for farmers, the place the mother and father and grandparents down the generations have been like, “No matter you do, don’t take out a bunch of debt on these farms.”

Craig:

The children who develop up in that surroundings are those who’re operating, the banks now operating these organizations. Meb, should you do an funding and you then determine you don’t like a sector, you simply don’t spend money on that sector anymore. For those who’re a farmer, you’re a farmer, you’re not going to choose up and go work in a manufacturing unit. Yeah, so the people who find themselves on the land, that’s why you solely have 13% debt on your entire sector. And it’s actually the ethos of the sector at this level. The federal government really has two GSEs, authorities sponsored enterprises centered on lending to farmers. You get actually advantageous charges. There’s Farmer Mac, which is like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which lends to establishments.

After which there’s the farm credit score system. We simply really within the property that we acquired, we simply took over a mortgage from the farm credit score system and that’s all arrange as cooperative. They really offer you a rebate in your loans. Our internet curiosity on that mortgage is 3.99% on there after that rebate. So there’s good lending alternatives, however we do like having low leverage on the farmland, typically none. Truly often we like to purchase it a 100% fairness after which do enhancements with leverage if it’s just lately priced.

Meb:

Received it. Okay. It is smart, I feel for most individuals after they give it some thought, that farmland intuitively, should you have been to consider inflation or larger inflation durations, why farmland would do effectively, I really feel like that’s considerably of an apparent takeaway. The 2 issues that I stated have been actually huge surprises to me from the final podcast. One was what we simply talked about. Second was that the position of, you talked about organics and also you dropped on the final podcast that just one% of U.S. farmland is natural. Is that’s nonetheless the case? That appeared like an incredibly low quantity to me.

Craig:

Nicely, nice information, is as much as 1.2%.

Meb:

Oh child, it’s up 20%. That’s a greater technique to say it, 20% improve. That’s loopy.

Craig:

It’s a surprisingly low quantity. Over 6% of the U.S. meals finances is spent on natural meals. The extra margins are nice, so 50 to 200% worth premiums are there. And there’s large shopper demand. The CEO of Costco, 10% of all natural meals within the U.S. is bought by way of Costco, so it’s an incredible channel, however their CEO says that they’ll’t get sufficient organics to remain in enterprise day after day. So it’s actually a provide restricted market. If there was extra natural meals, you’d have a bigger market, however you want that licensed natural land with a purpose to develop natural meals with a purpose to serve that market. And it’s that three yr transition to natural that actually holds folks again, holds farmers again from changing.

Meb:

My brother’s doing it proper now in Western Kansas, should you’re watching this on YouTube, this would possibly even be me do the farm he’s doing. And he says it’s not simple and it takes some time.

Craig:

Three years to get licensed. And one of many huge challenges is definitely you’ll be able to’t simply mono crop, like probably the most operationally environment friendly approach of managing farmland is to farm one crop yr after yr after yr, proper? And solely rotate when you must. For those who’re maximizing soil well being and doing regenerative agriculture, you then want principally 4 crops grown every year and you must rotate these fields over time.

Meb:

Is that a part of a requirement for the natural label or is that extra on the regenerative facet or how’s that work?

Craig:

That’s extra on the regenerative facet, however as a result of we try this, it makes it very simple for us to get licensed natural. Usually in crops you must rotate your crops. For those who attempt to develop corn three, 4, 5 years in a row, you’re going to have every kind of soil pests, every kind of above floor pests. You’re going to have an incredible quantity of weeds and you actually need to interrupt that cycle. And so what most farmers within the Midwest do, is that they maximize the time they’ll do the corn by doing genetically engineered crops and making use of plenty of pesticides and herbicides on the land after which rotating. The rotation that they do is simply often one yr to soybeans, which have an entire completely different set of pests after which rotate again, provides just a little little bit of soil nitrogen as effectively, after which rotate again into corn.

That’s the first rotation, but it surely’s very depending on genetically modified crops and many pesticides and herbicides. If you wish to go away from that, use extra pure methods, you then want these at the least three, however usually 4 crops every year after which rotating over time. That’s very difficult for a farmer. And if you concentrate on the common commodity farmer within the U.S. has about $8.5 million price of land and gear they usually make simply $250,000 a yr. But when they take three years and convert that by way of to natural, that’s $750,000 that they’re not going to should ship their children to varsity or fund their retirement or numerous issues like that. So that actually is a giant barrier.

Meb:

Taking a look at this chart, I like when issues are quite simple for me on the investing facet, and to me, 6% natural meals market share, 6.3, 1.2% natural crop land, there’s a ramification there to be earned and it’s getting wider, by the best way. And if there’s worth premiums, 50 200% worth premiums natural, why are extra folks not profiting from this? What’s the hindrance?

Craig:

A part of the problem is that farmers themselves, 98% of farmland is owned by the farmers and a couple of% is institutional. The massive barrier to the prevailing farmers is that three yr conversion interval. It’s how do they fund in essence that transition to natural. There’s loads of experience points, such as you really must know the way to do that. It’s a lot more durable to develop 4 completely different crops every year and discover completely different markets to promote them to and have the gear to do this as effectively. Scale turns into very, essential to deal with that. On the institutional facet, we’re at 250 million. We’re one of many 14 largest farmland managers within the U.S. which is a surprising quantity should you’re used to different types of business actual property. However we’re the most important centered on natural and regenerative agriculture. I’d really love for there to be extra competitors on this house.

I feel that there’s an incredible alternative on this, however once I go searching on the different institutional buyers, two issues maintain them again. One remains to be a normal bias towards natural, like the final bias towards natural agriculture. Which to some extent goes away on the floor. However the farm managers beneath that also actually, actually imagine that. They actually inform me that natural doesn’t work, though it’s a $60 billion a yr enterprise, in order that’s not true. After which the second factor is that they’re speaking to their buyers about shopping for an asset that generates regular money move from day one. They discuss in regards to the money move that they generate from day one, and you may’t take it by way of a worth add course of should you bought the on getting money move from day one. We inform our buyers they’re not going to get money move for 3 years.

We’re going to take it by way of the natural conversion course of after which we’re going to get the stepped up rents from $300 an acre to $750 an acre, or it is perhaps 4 or 5 years if we’re changing a part of the land over to natural blueberries or wine grapes or different crops like that. Extra what are known as everlasting crops. And when the buyers are available in with that good long run time prize and that 5 years or extra time horizon, they usually know upfront they’re not going to get money move proper to start with. Then it makes loads of sense, but it surely additionally shrinks the pool of buyers.

Meb:

As we’re speaking about this natural transformation, is it a giant value? I’m considering of limitations and it simply appears so apparent to me. Is it one thing that, is there a giant price to pay for this to get licensed? Is there loads of documentation? I imply, you and I have been joking earlier than this started and I used to be lamenting how problematic coping with simply authorities allowing was for simply renovating our workplace. It’s been occurring for six months, it ought to have taken one week, possibly. We didn’t even do something, so we cleaned up the house. However I imply, my God, simply coping with the federal government. Is that this a giant barrier or is it really, when you learn to do it pretty templated and easy and as costly, what’s the method for somebody who’s by no means been by way of it?

Craig:

It may be so simple as simply primarily not farming the land for 3 years after which farming natural crops. It’s extra sophisticated in that while you’re switching from probably monocropping corn to 4 numerous crops, you’ve 4 occasions the complexity that you just had earlier than. Our farm administration workforce will get the land licensed natural. We map out a 10-year crop rotation plan on the land, and by shopping for at the least $50 million price of farmland in a single tight geographic space, we’ve got sufficient that we are able to say, “Okay, nice. Nicely, we’ve got 600 acres of land obtainable for tomatoes yearly for the subsequent 10 years. It’s simply going to rotate across the farm.” A part of the land can go in pasture, for instance, half to natural greens, half to grains, after which again into pasture. However yearly the identical ratios of land are there. And so we’ll exit and we’ll discover one of the best sheep and cattle tenants for the pasture, one of the best natural tomato farmers or natural candy corn farmers for the vegetable rotations, inexperienced beans and one of the best grain farmers as effectively. After which lease that out as primarily multi-tenant business actual property.

Meb:

Sounds altogether too wise. Let’s discuss just a little bit about you guys final couple years. You may both do it by way of case research, you possibly can simply discuss broad phrases, what you guys have been in search of, what you’ve been shopping for, any market tendencies you wish to discuss, have costs. I imply I’ve seen your returns and I understand how the funds work, however any overview you need you’ll be able to kick it off and we are able to undergo any which approach you need.

Craig:

Most likely one of the best ways to reply your query is an instance of a farm that we’ve taken right through the conversion course of and actually created much more range on that. And there’s a brand new slide up right here if folks wish to have a look at that on YouTube. However one of many properties that we purchased was a 4,000 acre farm about 55 miles east of San Francisco. And we purchased it for round $30 million. I used to be just lately appraised for just a little over $77 million, and the conversion course of was fairly fascinating. Once we purchased it, it was nice farmland, a few of the oldest water rights in California, really pre-1914 water rights. Our water rights are senior to the state of California. We will discuss in regards to the worth of water, Meb as a result of I feel that’s among the best causes to purchase farmland, is definitely to get what I feel is probably the most miss priced asset class round which is water.

However simply farmland for this case examine is, we purchased this property, had two tenant farmers on the land every farming about 2,000 acres, they usually had been farming it for round 50 years. And each of them have been utilizing the very same crop rotation on the land, about two-thirds alfalfa, 25% corn and the remainder of it, about 5% tomatoes on that land, simply rotating round by way of a five-year crop rotation. And the income was beneath $350 an acre for that. Once we purchased it, we took it by way of an natural conversion course of. One of many farmers needed nothing to do with changing to natural. He was a 91-year-old man who had made a ton of cash in promoting land for property improvement and simply loved farming 10,000 acres. And he stated, “You guys need this 2,000 acres again, we’re performed. Simply tell us while you need it.”

And the opposite group we really labored with to assist really do the work on the land as we have been changing it to natural. And fast-forward to immediately, the place prior to now there have been no natural acres, we now have over 2,900 acres licensed natural and in everlasting crops. Went from three typical crops to 12 crops immediately. And went from two farmer tenants to seven farmer tenants on that land. And elevated the income per acre for us from just below $350 an acre to over $800 per acre. Actually vital improve within the efficiency of the land, and it really works. And really these numbers mirror solely one of many issues that we’ve performed is we recognized a few of the floor that was simply ideally suited for natural blueberries on that floor, so about 600 acres.

We went out, we established a partnership with Driscolls, we’ve got experience in blueberries, so we really planted them ourselves, and we’re simply partway by way of the maturation strategy of these blueberries. Our internet final yr, internet revenue was over $1,100 per acre on these blueberries that’ll develop to round $10,000 per acre maturity. The numbers that I’m quoting over $800 per acre will really improve fairly considerably as that matures.

Meb:

You guys use just a little little bit of debt, I do know, we talked about it to start with. How do you see that? Are there any kind of fence posts or broad factors of reference you employ for the way a lot debt you’ll make use of on a farm or an operation or a purchase order? How do you concentrate on it?

Craig:

It’s fairly delicate to debt costs. Up till a number of years in the past we have been very comfy with debt. Usually, we want to see 30% plus or minus 10% on debt is an inexpensive LTV quantity as the costs elevated. And due to a few of the debt that was obtainable within the house with the federal government sponsored enterprises, you have been capable of get it at a reduction to already low-cost free cash charges. Now the debt markets are simply not practical. Because the charges have been going up, we shifted over to a 100% fairness for purchasing the properties after which utilizing debt to do the enhancements. However now we’re just about only a 100% fairness for the entire thing. Within the case we have been capable of assume this debt at 3.99%. In order that’s unacceptable, and it’s solely just a bit over 20% of the asset.

Meb:

We’ve had you on the podcast earlier than, we’ve had numerous farmers on the podcast, and I feel should you have been to do the phrase cloud or have a look at the phrases that get used most, water’s up there. Possibly dig just a little extra, inform us just a little deeper about why that is so vital? How do you defend your self towards errors right here or getting in hassle with a property that both might not have the fitting water rights or that sooner or later in the case of international warming or altering geopolitics and borders, the way you defend your self?

Craig:

And we’ve got a giant display principally on which areas are going to be neutrally or positively impacted by local weather change, which of them are going to be negatively impacted? And thru this, the chance to purchase water has been simply actually eye-opening for us. We really worth the filth and the water individually, and while you try this, we frequently really feel like we’re shopping for the filth and getting the water without spending a dime.

Meb:

I used to be going to say, what’s the standard breakdown should you have been to really … Is it 90% land worth, 10% water mentally? I do know there’s most likely not a precise breakdown, however is there a assemble you concentrate on it?

Craig:

That’s really fairly good, and it’s really simply wacky, really the water costs are actually simply damaged. However I’ll offer you some examples to anchor this. In Oregon, for instance, 10, 12, about 15 years in the past or so, the dry land costs have been as little as $2,500 an acre, and the water rights have been one other $2,500 an acre. So the irrigated land would possibly promote for $5,000. Okay, however you fast-forward to immediately. The dry land costs are round 10,000 an acre and irrigated land is round $12,500 an acre. The land costs have elevated, however the worth of the water rights hasn’t elevated throughout that point.

That’s a spot that we are able to have a look at very, superb knowledge, the worth of that water proper, both on a money move foundation or on an asset worth foundation. As a result of actually water is a property, identical to proudly owning a chunk of actual property, simply related to farmland, blended and blurred along with farmland. Water is one thing that actually has large worth. Australia has arrange a water market, america has not. If that occurs it will likely be an enormous change.

Meb:

You guys presently are California, Oregon, Washington, is that proper?

Craig:

That’s appropriate.

Meb:

Going again to how buyers take into consideration this, the place it slots in. We’ve lengthy talked about actual property and actual property are usually not homogenous. You have got actual property, which is clearly very completely different, business actual property. Even inside business actual property you’ve knowledge facilities, you’ve single household housing, you’ve workplace house, college, medical, on and on and on. You have got farmland and issues like that. However even once more, inside farmland you’ve corn and wheat within the Midwest versus blueberries within the northwest versus hashish in California versus wine grapes. It’s additionally a really numerous asset class. Which have been stated, we are inclined to lump actual property collectively for related traits. However 2022 is an efficient instance. The place many sorts of actual property did very poorly farmland was most likely to my information, one of many solely few lengthy solely property that had nice efficiency. Is {that a} truthful remark? I’m making an attempt to consider even what else might have endured final yr. Shares and bonds clearly did horrible, however farmland put up a stable yr. Is that correct?

Craig:

That’s correct really. On common, farmland is up about 10% and only one yr over yr, so ’21 to ’22 and a few areas just like the Midwest are up. I’m Iowa for instance, at up 19.7% after which some areas on the West Coast round eight, 9, 10% as effectively. Farmland actually is fascinating in that 53% of U.S. farmland grows two commodity crops, corn and soy. And most of that farmland is within the Midwest. And so when you concentrate on farmland costs, the dominant worth is that Midwestern farmland, however there’s 300 completely different crops rising on the West Coast and it gives 50% or extra of fruits, nuts and greens for instance within the U.S. so very, very, very massive markets which are diversified. One of many fascinating issues in regards to the Midwest farmland is that it’s very liquid. So the public sale markets that they’ve within the Midwest and all of the farmland is bought primarily based on CSR factors, corn suitability ranking factors, so how a lot corn are you able to develop per acre is what it’s priced on.

And so it successfully turns into nearly this commodity priced asset with a liquid market by way of the public sale system that may change very quickly. And there was loads of capital going into that house. But it surely leads to imbalances, as a result of the farmland, for instance on the West Coast doesn’t have that very same liquid markets. For those who’re an outdoor investor, a non-professional investor, it’s more durable to search out property and more durable to search out an operator for these property. And in order that’s why these markets have gone up lower than the Midwest. and it leads to imbalances as a result of should you really do some math and also you say, “Hey, how a lot corn can I develop per acre in Iowa versus our farm in Washington?” And one factor that individuals don’t know is that farmland the place we’re in Washington really produces probably the most quantity of corn per acre in any county within the U.S. Partially because-

Meb:

That’s shocking to me.

Craig:

It’s a terrific rising local weather, however partially as a result of it’s irrigated so we are able to present simply the correct quantity of water that’s wanted, whereas the Iowa farmland is extra rain fed and just a little bit topic to the variability, so we are able to make it rain precisely the place we would like it to. It’s very excessive productive farmland, however the worth of that farmland, Iowa farmland has been promoting for $20,000 an acre was once a excessive worth. Now they’ve had farmland gross sales at $30,000 an acre. The farmland the place we’re in Washington, for instance, is nearer to $15,000 an acre. Produces the identical quantity of corn per acre. should you needed to supply corn, Doesn’t it make extra sense to purchase, for instance in Washington than in Iowa? Sure, however it’s a very regionalized market. And it’s affected by the liquidity of those markets as effectively. Then it’s a very fascinating sector and it’s very not correlated. It’s correlated with cash printing and never correlated with the debt markets. And that’s I feel a superb normal place to be macroeconomically.

Meb:

And because the world goes haywire and you may watch shares and bonds go up 10% in a day, you’ll be able to say, “right here’s my farm, I can’t do something with it,” which I feel is a function, not a bug. Discuss to us just a little bit about the way you guys put collectively these funds. So for buyers, is it nonetheless accredited solely, what’s the minimums?

Craig:

It’s accredited solely, it’s 506(c) which permits us to speak publicly about what we do, and that’s a brand new jobs act construction. It’s limitless quantity of capital that we are able to elevate usually, but it surely does imply that each investor who is available in must be verified, third-party accredited on that. 50K minimal, We would like folks to have the ability to take part.

Meb:

Oh man, that’s accessible, that’s nice.

Craig:

We attempt to make it as accessible as doable. And we do have institutional buyers, massive wealth administration companies have their shoppers make investments with us and excessive net-worth people and household places of work as effectively.

Meb:

After I get round is promoting a few of my farmland, I’ll make investments some proceeds with you guys. I like what you’re doing. At any time when that could be, in the future. Discuss to us just a little bit about, all proper, so fund three for instance versus the prior funds. What’s the aim on the composition of that? Is it going to be 5 completely different geographies? Is it going to be one particular geography, sorts of crops? How do folks get the cash out? What are the mechanics of the fund for somebody who might make investments immediately? Can they withdraw on 20? I’m making an attempt to do the mathematics. What are we, 2020, 2033. I can’t even say it someday sooner or later.

Craig:

2023 is correct now. We’ll really launch that fund this quarter on there. We simply acquired this anchor 1,100 acre property, in any other case we’d have launched fund three already, however that’s a pleasant anchor property for us. Our technique relies on shopping for at the least $50 million price of farmland and one tight geographic space. So we are able to have an onsite farm supervisor and actually handle that as you’d handle a 400-unit condo constructing. And that makes it very easy for us to purchase the 100-unit condo constructing subsequent door or the 1,000-unit condo constructing subsequent door with out actually increasing our headcount on that. Now we have three main hubs, Northern California, Oregon and the Willamette Valley and Washington. These are nice rising areas. The brand new fund will elevate someplace between 250 and $500 million and by farmland usually in these geographies. Plus we’ll add yet one more geography.

At this level it’s most likely going to emphasise Oregon and Washington simply we just like the pricing dynamics the place they’re proper now. We expect there’s loads of alternative in these areas. And the funding usually, it’s formally a 10-year fund with one yr elective extensions. We inform the buyers to not anticipate money move throughout the first three years after which because it’s obtainable, we’ll distribute that money move, then they’ll have a possibility to exit on the finish or they’ll keep in so long as they need. So, I view these as sort of 30 plus yr property, farmlands simply this nice asset class. And so we’ve designed it in order that sure, our job is to extend the money move and supply liquidity to buyers as rapidly as doable. But in addition not pressure them out, not pressure them to have a taxable loss after which simply attempt to search for one other property.

Meb:

I think about some persons are fascinated by this generationally the place if given their alternative, they might most likely simply roll or proceed with the properties. Not indefinitely, however actually for the foreseeable future.

Craig:

That’s how I give it some thought. For me, I do wish to give the buyers liquidity as rapidly as doable, however I additionally wish to be saved on my toes and never give them a purpose to wish to exit. These are nice property and we do give it some thought multi-generation.

Meb:

What occasions over the previous few years has induced probably the most curiosity? For those who may correlate it? I’m wondering if Silicon Valley Financial institution, in my thoughts there’s sure issues that’ll simply drive cash elsewhere. Silicon Valley Financial institution is the kind of factor. It’s like, all proper, effectively A, I obtained to determine if I’ve an excessive amount of cash in a single financial institution. B, is it a financial institution that will disappear beneath the ether? B, ought to I be getting a greater return on my cash than 0%, or one thing like COVID, or one thing like inflation actually ramping up? Previous couple of years, I imply clearly 60/40 getting smashed final yr whereas farmland outperformed it by what, 20 proportion factors, some simply astonishing quantity. Is there something specifically the place your telephone begins ringing off the hook otherwise you beginning to get emails, apart from the Med Faber Present? The rest that’s like, oh, persons are really waking as much as this idea?

Craig:

Nicely, you do have very sensible buyers that aren’t considering contained in the field, and also you’ve simply performed an exceptional job on actually articulating a few of the advanced tendencies which are taking place in nice methods for shifting ahead. However actually throughout the COVID interval, I obtained the sense that individuals have been actually wanting, they have been involved in regards to the international economic system. The federal government had simply printed an incredible amount of cash, elevated cash provide 30% or extra, they usually needed to place their cash someplace secure. And in order that was a normal theme for folks. And that did have a superb impact on folks coming to Farmland LP.

Meb:

Yeah, I’m all the time fascinated by the place buyers come from, their motivations. And in your space it’s fascinating as a result of there’s those who most likely come to you from A, “I don’t have farmland publicity side.” There’s folks which are it from a pure diversification or return perspective. There’s different folks which are most likely it from actually a regenerative natural stewardship. They’re like, “Hey, I wish to make investments, however I wish to make investments someplace the place it’s considerate versus faceless or do no evil, stated in another way.” After which I think about it’s additionally a mixture of people, household workplace, every type. Do you suppose it’s just a bit little bit of every part? What’s your expertise been over the previous variety of years? You going to get all, I think about it’s just a little more durable for the common monetary advisor. I imply, until they’re putting say, “Hey shoppers, bunch of you guys make investments.” Since you don’t have a public automobile, which for that channel makes it just a little more durable for somebody at UBS or Morgan Stanley or one thing. There’s just a little little bit of every part and motivation’s diversified as effectively.

Craig:

I feel so. However Invoice Gates popping out as one of many largest farmland house owners, I feel additionally had an affect on folks. And should you do the mathematics round that, he put round 5% of his property in farmland. And that’s a superb anchor quantity for folks. You need to have diversified business actual property publicity, actual property publicity, and round 5% in farmland is only a ok for Invoice Gates. And I do suppose that there’s simply elevated concern about how leveraged in a normal sense, not with a capital L, not with a capital debt standpoint, however how leveraged the monetary markets are and the way leveraged folks’s portfolios are simply to shares and bonds.

Meb:

One of many questions I needed to ask was, what’s … I toured one of many largest greenhouses on this planet a couple of week in the past. It’s primarily tomatoes and hashish, but it surely’s one of the crucial technologically superior buildings I’ve been in, I feel ever. And also you begin to see the position of robotics actually speed up on the farm. I imply, I joke on right here on a regular basis that one of the crucial superior items of equipment for my childhood was using round on a tractor, which a few years in the past had GPS and a TV and every part, air-con. However immediately it’s like subsequent degree and it appears to be accelerating. What are your ideas there? I imply, I think about one of many ways in which you guys may even farm eight various kinds of crops is the flexibility to effectively work these various kinds of, it’s completely different to chop some wheat than it’s to reap some strawberries on and on. What’s the position that automation’s enjoying and the way rapidly is that like adoption curve taking place right here in 2023?

Craig:

There’s an incredible quantity of expertise that’s being superior on the farm. And it’s tractors, slicing heads, automated harvesting gear for everlasting crops as effectively, not simply wheat and corn that you just would possibly usually take into consideration. However for instance, should you have a look at blueberry harvesting. One blueberry harvester with 4 folks on it may well harvest as a lot as 125 hand harvesters. And actually most blueberry fields on the market are arrange for hand harvesting. You must principally do every part completely different together with your crops and your plantings and your rows and your varietal choice, et cetera to have the ability to do the machine harvest. However you get contemporary market high quality blueberries with 4 folks as a substitute of 125 folks. So you actually get dramatic value financial savings, high quality will increase as effectively.

Speaking in regards to the vertical farming, we may do vertical farming on our land. Now we have loads of nice land. Now we have water, sunshine, labor, et cetera. However once I do the mathematics, and AppHarvest might be a superb instance, to do a 60 acre greenhouse would value them round $2.5 million per acre for that greenhouse. And for that very same amount of cash that it prices them to construct a 60 acre greenhouse, I may purchase 10,000 acres of irrigated farmland. Greenhouses are depreciating property. Their working prices are excessive, sometimes round twice the fee per pound of meals than farmland grown stuff. However actually in 10 years the query is, “Nicely, would you fairly personal a 10-year outdated 60 acre greenhouse or 10,000 acres of irrigated farmland?”

Simply from an funding standpoint, I’m a giant fan. I nonetheless suppose there’s large worth on the farmland facet. If I assumed that there was loads of alternative within the managed surroundings sector, we’d be investing there as effectively. But it surely’s actually slender number of crops. Issues which have a fast turnover and excessive greenback worth per sq. foot are the issues that make sense. So suppose tomatoes, strawberries, hashish, et cetera.

Meb:

Yeah. What’s the hip ranking and why are you guys primary?

Craig:

Oh, as a result of we’re superior. One of many issues, I’ll pop that up on the display if folks wish to have a look at that. And possibly I’ll offer you only a fast little bit of the backstory. We’re very science oriented in what we do, as a result of we purchase farmland and converter to natural regeneratively managed farmland, the USDA was really … And do it at scale. The USDA was really very considering what the ecological worth was of what we did. They really gave us a $250,000 grant and we introduced in two consulting companies to take a look at what we did and quantify it for us. And so these two companies checked out each tractor cross, each crop that went on the bottom, each enter that went in, and on $50 million price of farmland these guys confirmed not solely did we ship a 70% internet financial acquire to the investor, however we additionally delivered 46% internet acquire to the ecosystem within the type of soil, carbon sequestered, cleaned water, clear air, et cetera, biodiversity.

And should you dig into the numbers just a little bit, what it confirmed is that if that land had been managed conventionally, it might have induced $8.5 million price of ecosystem service hurt. And the best way that we managed it created $12.5 million price of ecosystem service profit. So, an actual double backside line return each to the buyers and to the ecosystem. Partially due to that scientific report that we did we introduced within the largest ESG rankings agency to offer us a rating on our system. We do a bunch of various rankings, however we introduced these guys in and this group does the rankings for MSCI. For those who see an ESG rankings on MSCI, these are the backend guys behind it.

They went in, we went by way of a three-month course of with them. They rating you on a number of completely different measures and offer you an final rating out of a 100 factors. For those who get 50 or under, you’re doing dangerous for the world. For those who get 50 or above, you’re doing good for the world. The typical agricultural agency of their system has a rating of 17, so not doing effectively for the world. And we acquired the very best rating that they’ve ever given to any one among their 10,000 companies. We obtained a rating of 82 on that. And we beat insurance coverage firms and tech firms and biotech firms and every kind of firms on that. And there’s a 12-page report that’s obtainable on this. However for us it’s essential not solely to get licensed natural, which is a federal regulated normal. But in addition have these third get together scores which are delivered. You may’t get a 100 on stuff. Some faux business scoring is rather like, “Oh, you’re all sustainable.” “Nicely, oh nice, I suppose we are able to go dwelling. We’re all performed.”

But it surely’s really actually vital, identical to you by no means say, “Oh, we’re performed when it comes to delivering income on the sustainability facet,” there’s all the time one other step you’ll be able to take. There’s all the time issues you’ll be able to enhance on and that’s why we like issues like this hip rating.

Meb:

Is there any carbon credit score angle to this at any level, or I’m all the time considering of different yield. Clearly, farmland is a fairly simple return stream, whether or not it’s by way of the crops in addition to appreciation of the land. Are there different different yield sources you guys ever have a look at for these properties? Is carbon one among them?

Craig:

We sequester about half a ton to a ton of carbon per yr on every of our 15,000 acres. It’s a terrific, primarily byproduct of specializing in wholesome soil biology and good land practices. Cowl cropping for instance is among the greatest methods to extend, so soil carbon, and it’s solely performed on about 3% of farmland acres within the U.S. Farmland is the second-largest carbon sink obtainable after the oceans. There’s actually an incredible alternative to sequester carbon there. The difficulty has been, it’s sophisticated to really combination the carbon. Each completely different soil sort, each completely different geography, each completely different crop rotation has a special protocol that must be developed with a purpose to quantify the quantity of carbon, at the least based on the best way that the carbon markets are structured immediately.

And the profit, if carbon costs are $20 per ton, they is perhaps larger than that now, however let’s use $20 a ton. If we’re sequestering half a ton to a ton of carbon per yr, that’s 10 to $20 extra earnings per yr on that, which is okay. For those who’re producing $300 an acre typical lease and you will get an additional 10 or 20 bucks, effectively, okay, that’s good. But when I can convert it to natural and get $750 an acre lease, that 10 to $20 doesn’t change my habits.

Meb:

Yeah, and specializing in the massive return, the massive muscle motion, the massive return driver, it makes much more sense than the rounding errors. As we simply had Ramit Sethi on the podcast stated, “Give attention to $50,000 issues as a substitute of $5 issues.” Now he’s speaking about lattes and different issues, however I feel it applies. I typically get seduced in an analogous method in our enterprise of getting distracted by shiny concepts when the primary focus is correct in entrance of my face, really easy to do. Craig, we talked about so much. What did we miss? Something that we haven’t touched on immediately that you just suppose is vital or significant that we glossed over?

Craig:

The magical factor about farmland. And once I began, we didn’t have this, crop insurance coverage, so natural crop insurance coverage. Mainly the commodity sector has had this glorious profit for crop insurance coverage, authorities funded crop insurance coverage. The federal government subsidizes crop insurance coverage by 40 to 60%, they usually guarantee that the farmer, the federal government has the vested curiosity in ensuring that meals is produced yearly. And so, one of many key methods they do that’s to supply crop insurance coverage for folks. And that makes positive that these farmers can keep in enterprise decade after decade, irrespective of the climate cycles. For those who don’t develop meals one yr, you’ve obtained an actual societal concern. That is the rationale why the federal government will principally guarantee that all of the farmers succeed.

Nicely, it takes 10 years the best way the crop insurance coverage is about up. It takes 10 years’ price of rising a specific sort of crop in a specific county to ensure that it to be eligible for crop insurance coverage. Nicely, we’re now 25 years into natural certification. We’ve obtained a ton of crop range that’s now obtainable for crop insurance coverage from the federal government. And so we’re capable of get crop insurance coverage for larger revenue margin crops that actually take away the danger. You get 80% crop insurance coverage in your crops. We develop 40 completely different crops throughout our farms, so we get loads of inherent diversification and with that crop insurance coverage on it. It actually creates this beautiful magical asset class. You don’t have lease insurance coverage in your condo buildings or workplace constructing insurance coverage in your workplace buildings, however we’ve got authorities funded crop insurance coverage on this. It’s a fairly matched asset class, solely 2% institutionally owned, and that creates some actually great dynamics for buyers to nonetheless get into the house.

Meb:

Hear, hear. Nicely, what’s the longer term seem like for you guys? I imply, final time we talked, I imply, I feel the reply I think about is simply plant and develop, proper? Increase a bit and carry on doing what you’re doing. However is there the rest in your mind that you just’re fascinated by as we glance out to 2024, 2025?

Craig:

We’ve spent the previous variety of years actually constructing out our farm administration firm. Now we have this 45-person farm administration firm that actually is simply wonderful. All the things is completed at value, it’s not a revenue middle for us. We do it at value. In order we scale up these prices principally get amortized over extra acres. I feel we’re at a really good stage to develop these areas that we’re in with out rising headcount on that and actually benefiting from the economies of scale. And we’ll simply proceed to be centered and execute on shopping for top quality farmland with nice water rights into the longer term. Long run we’ll create these, we’ll do one thing enjoyable round as soon as the property are all absolutely money flowing in order that it’s simpler for everybody to take part in, however we are able to discuss that in a yr or two.

Meb:

Now that we’re out of COVID you do any extra real-world meetups? You maintain any occasions on the farm? The place can folks discover out extra about you guys? What’s one of the best locations?

Craig:

Yeah, so our web site @farmlandlp.com is a superb place to get in touch with us. We’re really having an investor occasion at our California farm that has the blueberries at first of June. After which within the fall we’ve got investor occasion up in Oregon the place we harvest wine grapes. We actually wish to get the buyers out to the farms.

Meb:

Yeah, man, that must be a straightforward promote. It’s just like the Buffet, the Berkshire assembly ticket. So long as you’re an investor, you get entree, you bought to stomp some grapes, you bought to get your toes moist.

Craig:

Just about. It’s fairly wonderful to get again out on the farm and actually really see sustainable regenerative agriculture occur at scale. And folks say our blueberries are one of the best tasting blueberries that individuals have ever had, and it’s loads of enjoyable.

Meb:

Cool. Nicely, Craig, it’s been loads of enjoyable as common, becoming a member of you, catching an replace. Thanks a lot for becoming a member of us immediately.

Craig:

Nice speaking to you, Meb as all the time.

Meb:

Listeners, should you loved this episode, take a look at the hyperlink within the present notes for our first episode of Craig that was launched on the finish of 2020. Podcast listeners will put up present notes to immediately’s dialog mebfaber.com/podcast. For those who love the present, should you hate it, shoot us suggestions at [email protected]. We like to learn the evaluations. Please evaluation us on iTunes and subscribe the present wherever good podcasts are discovered. Thanks for listening, buddies, and good investing.