At the Farm Progress Show we talk with Robert Moore from AcreTrader to learn about their company. Rob and his team work to manage a group of investors to connect with farmer tenants. He works to make land purchase deals work well for the investor and the farmer.
Guest Robert Moore w/ Acre Trader:
o He is the Investment Manager for Row Crops; I work with a team to source, structure, and fund deals on
acretrader.com. I see my role primarily as a translator between farmers and investors as our investment
mandate is focused around finding opportunities that are a clear, long term win for both the farmer and
operator.
What is AcreTrader?
o platform connecting operators to investors
o crowdsourcing structure we give retail investors access to the asset class at a fractional cost
Who can invest through AcreTrader?
o a minimum investment may be between $5 - 50k rather than the millions it takes to buy a whole farm.
o At present we have over 100,000 registered users on the site and about $350m in AUM across row crop
operations, permanent crop operations, and timber, most of which has been funded in the past 18
months.
Why has this concept been so popular?
o The vast majority of the deals funded on our platform are brought to us by operators.
So when a farmer has a piece of property they want to begin farming (or continue farming if a
landlord is selling out from under them) but aren't in a position to buy in full, investors step in to
fill the purchase price.
o Alongside a rapidly growing global population and demand for food, farmland offers a truly diversified
investment opportunity with attractive long-term returns.
How does the ROI compare to other investment classes?
o Stocks, Bonds, Gold, Etc….
o Speed, Expertise, Flexibility
Where do you guys do business at?
o We are currently active in 18 states, though are able to work nationwide and plan to continue expansion
as operator need dictates.
Farm4Profit…..that’s what our listeners care about. How does this help?
o There are lots of options for farmers to seek capital; the advantage of ours puts the financial risk on the
investor
It’s a transparent/democratic model, centered around the operator.
o Farmers can expand their operation or just simply raise capital
o We also have an expanding list of deal structures
raising improvement budget for tile/land improvement
offering farmers opportunities to be partial owners
sale/leasebacks
Is finding an investor partner something that is hard to do?
o AcreTrader manages all the investors so the farmer can focus exclusively on farming the ground.
What works “well” with Acre Trader?
o What doesn’t work “well” with Acre Trader?
Did we miss anything?
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Summary
Closing