Kempen Capital Management (“Kempen”), a leading asset manager headquartered in the Netherlands, announced the launch of a global sustainable farmland strategy earlier this year. The strategy primarily invests in land that produces annual and permanent crops and will be diversified across OECD countries. In addition to seeking attractive returns, the global farmland strategy was developed to deliver improvement across five of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: zero hunger, clean water and sanitation, responsible consumption and production, climate action, and life on land. US Agriculture, an investment firm focused on acquiring and managing quality farmland assets, has partnered with Kempen to help execute the strategy in the United States.
Given US Agriculture’s deep experience in farmland, the firm has a network of farmers with strong convictions about sustainable farming practices and a desire to grow their operations. US Agriculture creates a sustainability plan for each portfolio property that includes meaningful impact goals measured and reported annually. At the beginning of 2021, US Agriculture also enrolled all its acres in the Leading Harvest Standard, a third-party audited certification providing assurance that sustainable farming practices across many environmental, social, and governance issues are being applied.
The partnership with Kempen allows US Agriculture to accelerate its commitment to promoting more sustainable outcomes and ensuring resources are preserved for future generations.
“The Kempen team shares our passion for agriculture and understands the multitude of challenges US farmers face producing and supplying the worlds food, fiber, and fuel. We are one part of Kempen’s global management team and thrilled to collaborate with other sustainable-minded farmland managers. Kempen’s long-term and global perspective, coupled with a commitment to invest in technologies and enhancements that will improve soil, water, air, and humanity in general, aligns well with US Agriculture’s purpose to improve our world through excellence and continuous improvement,” said David Martin, Managing Director of US Agriculture.
“Despite the distance and global pandemic, Kempen’s team has been very involved in understanding our plans to make individual properties better. We’re committed to working with farmers who know profitability and sustainable farming practices are not mutually exclusive. And that’s critical to improving the soil, water, and air on and around the properties we manage,” said Clint Leman, CFA, US Agriculture’s Director of Portfolio Management.
For more information, please visit www.us-agriculture.com or contact Evan Newton, CFA, at evan.newton@us-agriculture.com.
