Bulgarian farmland has been appreciating at approximately 19% per year but is still much cheaper than U.S. farmland at an average price of 1,850 per acre for good quality land. The Black Sea Agriculture Fund which invests in prime Bulgarian farmland and leases it back to local farmers is currently at a modest $1.5 million however its manager, Jeff Notaro plans to increase the size of the fund to a minimum of $10 million, or 5,000 acres in the next two years. Over the next few decades, on a per capita basis, the amount of available arable farmland will decline from 0.218 hectares per person today to 0.181 hectares per person by 2050. Average U.S. corn prices have tripled between 2005 and 2012 from $2 per bushel to $6.22 per bushel, in part because of increasing demand for ethanol and meat, and agricultural commodity prices have driven a 128% increase in average farmland values in the U.S. Midwest over the past ten years from 1,270 per acre in 2003 to 2,900 per acre in 2013. Forty percent of global wheat land is experiencing either flat or declining yields according to a 2012 report in the journal Nature Communications, and in China scientists are reporting that smog levels are reaching the point where sunlight is being blocked and hampering photosynthesis. To read more about factors affecting the future value of global farmland:
To receive relevant news stories with summaries provided by GAI Research & Insight, subscribe to Global AgDevelopments, our free bi-weekly enhanced eNews service