By Staff Writer, Global AgInvesting Media

Alto, a prominent self-directed IRA platform that specializes in bringing private markets to individual retirement portfolios, has announced a new investment opportunity in collaboration with FarmTogether, a dedicated farmland investment manager. Through this partnership, the FarmTogether Sustainable Farmland Fund, LP is now accessible on the Alto Marketplace. This curated platform allows accredited investors to discover and invest in alternative assets directly using their self-directed retirement accounts.

Farmland has historically shown strong inflation sensitivity alongside a low correlation to public markets. These distinct characteristics make it an appealing option for individuals seeking to build a well-diversified retirement portfolio. Eligible investors can now access the FarmTogether Sustainable Farmland Fund via the Alto Marketplace with a minimum investment of $50,000, utilizing either a Traditional, Roth, or SEP IRA.

The fund is structurally designed to potentially generate durable income and long-term capital appreciation by establishing direct ownership of high-quality U.S. agricultural real assets. It maintains a specific focus on sustainable, income-producing permanent crops. To mitigate risk, the portfolio is diversified across small to mid-sized farms situated in prime agricultural regions, including California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Upper Midwest. FarmTogether achieves this through a strategy that emphasizes off-market acquisitions and disciplined underwriting. Furthermore, the fund incorporates sustainability practices that strictly align with the Leading Harvest Farmland Management Standard, an industry-developed framework for sustainable farm management.

“At Alto, our focus is on bringing compelling investment opportunities to our customers, and farmland is where we see growing interest,” said Evan Deussing, CIMA®, SVP of Revenue at Alto, in the press release. He noted that as investors seek to build more resilient portfolios, alternative asset classes like farmland are becoming a serious part of the conversation, offering a disciplined approach for retirement savers to consider.

Executives from both companies highlighted the risks associated with over-concentration in traditional markets. Chris Loomis, Director of Investor Relations at FarmTogether, explained that retirement portfolios often remain heavily concentrated in public markets.

“Investors who are thinking seriously about diversification often find that their retirement portfolios remain heavily concentrated in public markets,” Loomis said. “The Sustainable Farmland Fund provides a differentiated exposure via direct ownership of specialty crops such as tree nuts and citrus, with a focus on long-duration, income-producing permanent crops.”

Eric Satz, Founder and CEO of Alto, further emphasized this point, noting that many retirement portfolios today are heavily concentrated in the same underlying companies and stocks through different indexes. According to Satz, this creates a “herd mentality” that leaves investors exposed to correlated risk. Introducing alternative assets like farmland can provide true diversification, offering a differentiated source of returns to build resilient, long-term retirement strategies.

“Incorporating alternative assets like farmland can help introduce true diversification, offering a differentiated source of returns and helping investors build more resilient long-term retirement strategies,” he said.

To help educate potential investors, Alto and FarmTogether co-hosted a live webinar detailing the fund’s strategy, portfolio construction, and the overall case for allocating farmland within a retirement portfolio.

As of March 31, 2026, Alto serves as the IRA custodian for approximately $2 billion in assets held by over 32,000 self-directed IRA investors, supporting more than 2,500 issuers. Meanwhile, FarmTogether manages approximately $217 million in assets across 51 farmland properties, spanning eight states and 15 crop types.

The FarmTogether Sustainable Farmland Fund is currently available to accredited investors on the Alto Marketplace website.

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