Fractal CEO Ben Gordon sat down with Paul Neiffer from Farm CPA Report, at the recent 2025 Executive Business Conference to talk about the challenges and opportunities around farmland investment.
When structured properly, with aligned incentives, farmland investment can be a valuable tool for growth-oriented farmers to access capital and scale their operations. For investors, farmland can provide valuable investment diversification, offering exposure to a tangible asset class with unique advantages over other financial assets.
So how do you know when and why taking on a farmland investor makes sense for your operation? Here are five key factors to consider:
1. Farmland remains a solid bet but is now harder to cashflow
Farmland remains a solid investment and stable asset class, but high interest rates and low commodity prices are making it harder than ever for farmers to access that land. This downturn coupled with increasing farmer retirements, however, will present more land opportunities.
Factors like global supply and demand dynamics, volatile weather, and the potential for new markets like biofuels and plastics, provide tailwinds for farmland values over the next 10-25 years. For farmers specifically, acquiring more farmland can offer benefits of scale and operational efficiency.
“We’re still in a spot where [crop] prices are lower and rates are higher versus the averages that we’ve had in the last three to five years. And that’s a harder time for many folks to buy assets when they’re looking at their own operation. Now, that’s also a great time, from a macro view, to buy those assets.” – Ben Gordon
2. The right investor can help you grow your operation over the next decade
Investor partners, like Fractal, provide an opportunity to expand your operation with limited impact to your working capital.
“It’s a way to get more capital and reduce that cash flow burden. It positions you to go build your operation and, at the end of 10 years, hopefully we’ve earned the right to renew and do it again.”
3. Look for investors that keep you in control
Passive minority investment structures like the one offered by Fractal can provide growth capital for farmers without sacrificing control over land management decisions.
“We like to be on the same side of the table with the farmer. If we get to an agreement, they’ll take that capital and go make an investment. We don’t tell the farmer how to use it.”
4. Choose an investor willing to share skin in the game
Having aligned incentives with your investor is critical and key to a successful partnership. Both parties should win when the farm operation succeeds and, conversely, both lose when the farm operation loses. As an example, Fractal’s annual payments are tied to the land’s value over time, allowing you to protect your cash position. When the land value increases, both the farmer and Fractal benefit.
“We win when the farmer wins and lose when the farmer loses. We replace that cash flow burden so the farmer can go use that playbook.”
5. Expect transparency around the investor’s FARMLAND valuation
In some markets, farmland prices have remained high or continue to increase, making it harder for investors to find attractive entry points. Fractal emphasizes transparency when it comes to farmland valuation, to ensure confidence in the integrity of the valuation and satisfaction for both the farmer and investors. Keep in mind that a range of macroeconomic, policy, environmental and regional factors can influence farmland valuation.
“We show the farmer our whole valuation and all our work to get there, because we like to be on the same side.”
Summing it up, Ben emphasized that farmland investment is a smart way for great operators to access cash flows, secure more debt, and grow their operation.
“We’re not in it for the farmer to lose. By aligning incentives, it’s a heck of a lot easier to get on the same side of the table. Great operations want to grow their business and bring on the next generation – and farmland investment affords them that opportunity.”
Note this is not investment advice. The information contained should be used for informational purposes.
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