SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — US Farm Trust, a privately held real estate investment trust (REIT), announced that it has closed on over $300 million in commitments from a group of world class institutional investors. US Farm Trust was established to acquire and manage high quality row crop farmland throughout the United States.
US Farm Trust Advisors, a separate entity, will guide the REIT. US Farm Trust Advisors will focus exclusively on managing the REIT and will have no conflicts or competing interests.
US Farm Trust is a highly focused and well-capitalized REIT that will purchase row crop farmland throughout the United States. It will work with sellers and farmers alike to create attractive sale and leaseback structures. Moreover, the REIT will be able to purchase even the largest farms on an expedited basis without a financing contingency.
“The strategy of US Farm Trust is to work as closely as possible with farmers who will see us as not just a buyer, but as a partner in the success of their operations,” said Tommy Funk, US Farm Trust Advisors’ President and the former National Farmland Acquisition Manager at Bank of America/U.S. Trust. “Our capital will help the farmer maximize return on investment and maybe even provide a solution to long term financial planning needs.”
“We are offering farmers the ability to sell their farms without having to leave their land,” said Steven Feldman, US Farm Trust Advisors’ Chairman and the portfolio manager for one of the founding shareholders of AgCoA, a private U.S. farmland REIT that was sold in 2012. “The advisors for this REIT have decades of experience investing in farmland, and we understand the importance of building long-term ‘win-win’ relationships with farmers.”