July 6, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Manulife Investment Management (MIM) has made its first farmland-plus investment on behalf of its Manulife Permanent Cropland Plus Fund (MPCPF) and other investors.

What is a farmland-plus investment? MIM explained that it refers to investments in companies and assets that combine farm production with processing and marketing, and sustainability, providing more diversified options beyond pure farmland investments. 

As its first investment of this kind, MIM announced a minority partnership with Parreira Almond Holding Company, a family-owned almond hulling, shelling, processing, and marketing company operating in Los Banos, California. 

“This partnership is the first of many farmland plus investments we anticipate will be included in the  MPCPF portfolio,” said Stuart Pattillo, senior portfolio manager, agriculture, Manulife Investment  Management. 

“It brings potential additional value capture through vertical integration and exposure, increased revenues and returns, enhanced diversification and access to various end markets while providing a reduction in price volatility associated with traditional farmland and tree nut assets.” 

For more than four generations the Parreira family has been growing almonds in Los Banos using state-of-the-art technologies including drip irrigation, weather controllers, and soil moisture sensors to maximize efficiency and to sustainably conserve resources. In 1973 the company added its hulling and shelling operations, making it one of the oldest huller/shellers in the state. Since 1986 the company’s output has seen significant growth, and today Parreira Almond Holding processes its own yields and those of its selected growers. 

“We are thrilled to partner with the Parreira family who have been in the almond processing business, a farmland plus investment, for more than 50 years,” said Oliver Williams, global head of agricultural investments, Manulife Investment Management.

“They understand the complexities of agriculture and take a long-term view to growing, processing, and marketing almonds. We believe this investment will bring additional risk mitigation to the permanent cropland portfolio for our clients and our overall agricultural platform.” 

MIM is the largest manager of natural capital in the world, managing approximately 400,000 acres of prime farmland throughout the U.S., Canada, Chile, and Australia as part of its comprehensive private markets strategies. It also oversees approximately 6 million acres of timberland across the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, and Chile – all of which are 100 percent certified under either the Sustainable  Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) or the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®).

In addition, its entire U.S. farmland portfolio is certified by the Leading Harvest Farmland Management Standard, reflective of a commitment to sustainable practices, robust management, and continuous improvement.

Leading Harvest is a non-profit organization consisting of stakeholders across the agricultural value chain – companies that farm, own, and/or manage farmland, along with two environmental groups that together have created a new entity providing the first scalable, industry-wide universal sustainability standard that can be applied across all crops and geographies to address issues from climate change to biodiversity, and the resilience of cropland and communities.

“At its heart, Leading Harvest’s Farmland Standard is solution-oriented – meaning it gives farmers the ability to innovate and advance sustainability practices in pursuit of outcomes,” said Williams upon its launch in April 2020.

“This farmer-focused farmland standard can be applied to permanent crops, specialty crops and row crops alike, and across all regions and environments. To be in conformance with Leading Harvest’s standard, a producer aligns to best practices appropriate for their crop or region and demonstrates achieving outcomes in a continuous improvement framework.”

As for MPCPF, with a target of $500 million in committed capital, the fund’s investment strategy is to build a portfolio of core, directly operated permanent crop farmland and farmland-plus investments to provide a blend of current income with the potential for long-term appreciation. 

In addition to this farmland-plus partnership, MIM explained that the fund also has already acquired two tree nut properties in California, an apple and cherry property in Washington, and a row crop property in Nebraska on behalf of investors. 

“We are excited by this investment and partnership,” said Stuart Pattillo, senior portfolio manager, agriculture, Manulife Investment Management, “and we look forward to growing the business together and continuing to supply our customers with high-quality almonds for generations to come.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

*The content put forth by Global AgInvesting News and its parent company HighQuest Partners is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. All information or other material herein is not to be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Global AgInvesting and HighQuest Partners are not a fiduciary in any manner, and the reader assumes the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content on this site.