How do financialised agri-corporate investors acquire farmland? Analysing land investment in an Australian agricultural region, 2004–2019

Bibliographic Data

ID12694146
AuthorsBill Pritchard (0000-0001-7506-2095, The University of Sydney, corresponding author), Elen Welch (0000-0003-1106-4280, The University of Sydney), Guillermo Umaña Restrepo (The University of Sydney), Lachlan Mitchell (0000-0003-1316-3688, The University of Sydney)
Year2023
Volume23
Issue5
Pages1037-1058
Publication date2023-05-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Economic Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1468-2702 • E-ISSN: 1468-2710
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/jeg/lbad008
OpenAlexW4382749075
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited48

This article uses a purpose-designed land parcels database covering all rural land transactions over 16 years (2004–2019 inclusive) to document the ways in which financialised agri-corporate investors acquired farmland in a major Australian cropping and grazing region, New England North West (NENW). Framing these investments through the lens of strategic coupling reveals a mix of land acquisition strategies. Almost 200,000 ha of farmland was acquired by financialised agri-corporate investors in NENW during the study period. Approximately one-third was acquired through takeovers of stock market listed agricultural companies or unlisted agricultural asset management companies, another third involved the purchase of farms already packaged into assetised forms by prior rounds of restructuring and the final third involved the purchase and aggregation of family farms. We interpret this mix of entry modes to indicate a flexible and opportunistic set of dynamics in how financialised agri-corporate investors amass their land assets, underlining their reach and scope in the restructuring of regional agricultures

Agriculture · Asset (computer security · Business · Divestment · Geography · Leverage (statistics · Restructuring · Stock (firearms · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Finance

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Open DOIOpen Access