Major institutional investors are increasingly targeting Southeast agricultural properties, driven by growing concerns over food security and the region’s abundant natural resources, according to a leading land advisor. “On the institutional side, a lot of the investment is going towards quality soil and groundwater,” says Bryant Peace, Senior Advisor at Saunders Real Estate. “Food security is a major issue that we’ve got to as a country realize and focus on.”
Peace points to specific regional attributes attracting institutional capital: “The Mid South, the Delta region, there are a lot of areas within the broader southeastern context that have incredible soil and an overabundance of groundwater.”
These natural resources represent a compelling long-term investment thesis, even if immediate returns might not match other asset classes. “The returns are not as exciting as other assets to invest in,” Peace acknowledges, “but it’s seen as a safe, steady, consistent, just kind of conservative vehicle to invest in.”
According to Peace, institutions are taking a long view on agricultural investments, recognizing the fundamental value of productive farmland. “Long term, the appreciation potential of owning what is truly limited resource, as far as like good soil, good water, all of life depends on that,” he explains.
This institutional focus on agricultural land isn’t new, Peace notes that major investors “have been focused on it for the better part of a decade.” However, recent global events and growing food security concerns have intensified interest in the sector.
The market for agricultural land remains robust. Peace’s firm alone “transacted north of $800 million of real estate” in 2024, with expectations to exceed that figure this year. While not all of these transactions were purely agricultural, the volume indicates strong overall demand for rural land assets.
Peace emphasizes that institutional investment isn’t just about pure agricultural plays. Some investors are “targeting large farm and timberland commercials right outside of growth markets across the southeast, and basically land banking,” he says.
These investors often take a medium-term view, planning to “sit on it and hold it and wait five to 10 years, take it through the entitlement process and then prospectively turn around and sell it for three or 4x what they bought it for.”
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