What farmland can do for your portfolio

ALTERNATIVES

Martin Robinson, chairman of Brooks Macdonald Funds, explains the demographic, economic and legislative trends underpinning the case for investing in farmland.

Warren Buffett has told investors in Berkshire Hathaway that he expects productive assets, like farmland, to outperform unproductive assets, like gold and government bonds, over the next century and we agree. The outlook for long-term growth in the capital value of farmland is compelling, and something that is underpinned by a broad range of demographic, economic and legislative trends. On the one hand, an increasing world population coupled with growing demand in the emerging markets is accentuating global food security concerns and driving commodity and land prices ever higher. ...