It’s an exciting time to be in our business. Suddenly it seems like everyone wants to invest in farmland. I’ve been at Iroquois Valley for six weeks and already I’ve had three people ask me what I would do if they wrote us a check for $20M dollars (one was theoretical, one sort of real, and one real). That’s an interesting question to answer in a time when farmland prices are increasing significantly, in some parts of the country dramatically.
I did my graduate work in Agricultural Economics in the 1980’s, so I remember what happened when high crop prices, farm incomes, and credit availability drove up land prices to the point where speculative investing was happening. It wasn’t pretty when things unraveled. In a time of a lot of froth such as this, I think it’s important to make sure we remain grounded, both literally and figuratively, in our core beliefs as we look to the future:
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We remain 100% committed to organic and regenerative agriculture. Note that the word organic is still in this sentence. One of our Founders, Stephen Rivard, is a medical doctor. He started Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT because of the health effects of chemicals in our environment and this makes organic production a foundational part of our mission. Even though we live in a world where attention spans are limited and the word regenerative is arguably sexier than organic, we will continue to make the connection between human health outcomes and farming practices.
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We are 100% committed to regenerative practices. They are right for the planet because they have the potential to affect carbon drawdown and sequestration, water management, and nutrient management. They are also essential to the financial resilience of both our farms and our portfolio the face of increasing climate variability.
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We remain 100% committed to being a public company that can take investment from non-accredited investors. Early in Iroquois Valley’s existence, our founders recognized that average people had very few opportunities to use their investment dollars to influence the direction of our food system. This may be the most lasting innovation at Iroquois Valley. We currently have over 600 investors and our average investment is roughly $50,000. This many investors actually makes it less attractive for someone to write us a $20M check. Our founders knew this would happen, and intentionally viewed a large group of small investors as a more resilient capital source than a couple of large investors.
While our core beliefs remain the same, new things are definitely on the horizon. I’m happy to announce that the long-awaited launch of the Healing Soils Foundation is happening this month! Healing Soils is an independent 501 (3)c that will work with Iroquois Valley and other organizations to advance the mission of connecting farming practices with human health outcomes. Our co-founder, Steve Rivard, will be heavily involved in Healing Soils as he retires from his medical practice. In addition, Dave is working in earnest on his plans for our Rock Creek farm and educational site in Peotone, IL. You’ll want to watch for our next farm blast to learn more about that initiative.
I came to Iroquois Valley because I believe that the times we live in call each of us to make the biggest impact we can in the time we have on our planet. I look forward to working with all of you as we embark on the next phase of Iroquois Valley.
