Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) offer smaller investors access to timberland and farmland investments that they otherwise would not be able to take advantage of. Although REIT share prices have fallen recently, most timberland and farmland REITs offer dividends far in excess of three year or seven year U.S. Treasury notes. Two of the newest farmland REITs are Gladstone Land and Farmland Partners. Gladstone Land has a portfolio of 6,833 acres across 28 farms in California, Florida, Michigan, Oregon, and Arizona and raised $57 million through a January 2013 initial public offering (IPO). Its dividend yield through recent trading was 5.82%. Farmland Partners has a portfolio of 23,630 acres across 41 farms in Illinois, Nebraska, and Colorado and has raised $53 million through an IPO in April, 2014. It current dividend yield is 0.90%. The two largest timberland-focused REITs are Plum Creek and Weyerhaeuser, which converted to a REIT in 2010. Weyerhaeuser is one of the top forestry companies with 7 million acres in the U.S. and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Plum Creek owns 6.7 million acres in the U.S. Northwest, Northeast, and South along with six wood product operations with a yield of 4.35%. Other notable timber-focused REITs are Potlatch Corp. with a dividend of 3.2% and Rayonier with a dividend of 5.78%.
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