In 2019, I made my first farmland investment via AcreTrader, an agricultural investing platform, and I’ve now had several years of experience with the company to aid in writing this AcreTrader review.
I grew up in a small farming community in southern Minnesota, and several of my friends lived on farms. I got to enjoy the freshest sweet corn every summer, hayrides and big bonfires in the fall, and those farm kids contributed to one great wrestling team in high school.
I was never cut out to be a farmer, though. I wasn’t much of a wrestler, either. I do, however, know the benefits that we all reap every day from the hard work that farmers do and the fertile soils that they tend to.
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012 gave millions of Americans access to investments previously available only to institutional investors.
People gotta eat! If it weren’t for farmers and farmland, I wouldn’t be able throw down on some Triscuits and cheese, Cobb salad, or a sirloin steak.
AcreTrader acts as the real estate brokerage when they buy and sell farmland, profiting from the 5% or so in transaction fees. Again, this is consistent with the Republic Real Estate model.