April 5, 2016

Gladstone Land Corp. announced that it has acquired a 453 acre property in Fresno, California that includes 435 acres planted in pistachio trees ranging between five and 19 years old for $15.5 million. This purchase brings the value of Gladstone’s acquisitions for 2106 so far to $41 million. In March, the company announced the purchase of 6,190 acres of organically farmed land in Colorado .

Under the terms of the deal, Gladstone has agreed to a leaseback arrangement with the seller for a 10-year, triple-net lease that allows for one five-year extension option, and includes a fixed cash rent component and a variable rent component depending upon the gross crop revenues generated on the property.

“We are pleased to purchase our first pistachio farm and enter into a lease agreement with another highly-respected operator,” said David Gladstone, President and CEO of Gladstone in a company statement. “This farm allows us to further diversify our portfolio by crop type, which we believe will help reduce risks. The orchard is already in strong production, so we will immediately be receiving rent payments in the form of both fixed cash rents and crop share cash payments based on the revenues earned on the farm.”

The U.S. has been one of the world’s top producers of pistachios for a decade, ranked number two in 2015, behind Iran. While both U.S. production and prices have generally been steadily increasing for the past eight years, California producers had a particularly hard season in 2015, as adverse weather led production to drop by nearly 50%. These producers hope to return to 2014 production levels in 2016.

With this deal, Gladstone’s farmland portfolio stands at 47 farms, comprised of 23,456 acres in seven different U.S. states with a value of approximately $327 million. Its acreage is mainly focused on row crops, such as berries and vegetables, and permanent crops, such as almonds, blueberries, and pistachios. Gladstone is also open to acquiring tangential agricultural properties, such as cold storage facilities, processing and packaging facilities, and distribution centers.

The Company has paid 38 consecutive monthly cash distributions on its common stock since its initial public offering in January 2013, with the current per-share distribution being $0.04 per month, or $0.48 per year.