
Discerning farmland value and future return on investment is difficult due to diversity between fields, says Ben Gordon, CEO of Fractal Agriculture.
“You can have two fields 50 feet away from each other that might need to be farmed completely different,” he says.
Fractal underwrites a field’s value by benchmarking its performance against others in the region using yield data, aerial imagery and other agronomic characteristics. Farmers who consistently outperform county average yields typically see higher valuations, Gordon says.
So far, Fractal has deployed more than $10 million in investments in 15 deals across Iowa and four other Midwestern states.
Deals always don’t come together, Gordon says.
“We won’t do bad deals that hurt our investors and farmers,” he says. “But even if a deal doesn’t work out, we work with farm operations on an ongoing basis when another field comes up. We want agreements to work for the long term versus making a quick sale.”
About the Author
You May Also Like