Investing in Farmland

Today's LA Times included a story on investing in farmland. According to the article, a considerable portion of new money eyeing Green Acres comes from private equity, foreign investors, and institutions. The notion is that prime US farmland is finite, safe, and will increase in value, as the world's population grows, arable land diminishes, and yields per acre reach a ceiling.

I had looked into investing in farmland a few years ago. One look at the minimum required and realized I was out of my financial league. It was a frustrating experience. My consolation was that I firmly believe many appropriate investment opportunities exist for those willing to due the research and real thinking.

Investing has come a long way from the days when my dad -- and later, my mother -- dabbled in the stock market. As with many Great Depression survivors, my parents were savers before they were investors. They came to the market relatively late in life, and played with a few issues without the heat or conviction of retail market players. My mom once made some money on a tech stock, thanks to some "early information." She relished that moment, and I wish she had experienced more of them.

Neither of my parents would have ever invested in farmland. It would have been an exotic concept, without the comfortable familiarity that is mistakenly identified as practicality. Green Acres, as an investment idea or as a television show, just wasn't for them. Well, times have changed -- if you can swing the price of admission.