New Report from Statistics Canada Confirms Agcapita's Views on Farmland Investment

Calgary, Canada, October 03, 2013 --(PR.com)-- On Monday, September 30th, 2013 Statistics Canada released its monthly raw materials price index reflecting the prices paid by Canadian manufacturers for key ingredients. In some cases, prices for raw fruits and vegetables have shifted dramatically over the past five years. In August, the price index for fresh fruit inputs had risen by almost 15 per cent compared with August, 2008, while it had gone up by more than 16 per cent for raw vegetables over the same time period. (An index value of 100 set equal to prices in 2008 shows that by 2013, fresh fruit inputs had jumped to 114.9 and raw vegetables soared to 116.2.)

Latest data shows that the price for potatoes is up 27 per cent in five years. By comparison, general inflation in Canada, as measured by the consumer price index, has risen by only 6.5 per cent over the same time period. It is worth mentioning that over the same period farmland prices in Saskatchewan roughly doubled as per Farm Credit Canada reports.

The findings of Statistics Canada support Agcapita’s belief that demand for agricultural products will push farmland prices higher. Agcapita believes farmland is a safe investment, that supply is shrinking and that unprecedented demand for "food, feed and fuel" will continue to move crop prices higher over the long-term.

Agcapita’s series of farmland funds continue to show great appeal to conservative investors concerned with inflation and the volatility of their existing public equity investments. Farmland has similar inflation hedging qualities to gold but with an ongoing cash yield that gold lacks. Farmland returns exhibit low volatility and this combined with the high absolute returns from farmland equate to a favorable Sharpe ratio. Agcapita’s funds directly hold diversified portfolios of farmland in western Canada, and in particular in the highly price competitive province of Saskatchewan. Investors are provided with the comfort of a direct investment in farmland combined with a model of front-end loaded cash rents. Agcapita Farmland Fund IV has launched in April 2013 with a $20 million offering. Agcapita is the only farmland investment fund eligible for registered plans (RRSP, TFSA, RESP etc.). Fund IV is open to investors in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Newfoundland and accredited investors in Quebec. If you are interested in finding out more about the Fund IV offering please feel free to email us on enquiries@farmlandinvestmentpartnership.com