As Bonnefield marks its 10th anniversary this year, the Canadian farmland investment manager has much to celebrate. To-date it has over $740 million in assets under management across three farmland funds that collectively hold 112,000 acres of prime Canadian farmland. However, Bonnefield’s biggest accomplishment has been the long-term partnerships that it has formed with more than 100 farm families across Canada.
Through its business model ̶ buy farmland and lease it to leading farmers ̶ Bonnefield provides an alternative source of capital to help farm families grow, improve the financial health of their business, and plan their succession and / or retirement. The focus is long-term, which helps farmers plan, and ultimately protects the quality of the farmland.
“The long waiting list of farmers interested in working with us is evidence of the farming community’s need for supportive financing options,” said Bonnefield CEO Tom Eisenhauer. “Additionally, we see a strong and growing interest among investors to add Canadian farmland exposure to their portfolios. Bonnefield is privileged to be able to match the needs of farmers with the interest of investors.”
At Bonnefield’s recent Investor Day, special guests Kevin Martin of Martin’s Family Fruit Farm and Jammie Underhill of Can-Am Pepper Company discussed the opportunities in Canada’s agriculture sector today, especially for those who add value to their products and are focused on the changing consumer demands.
“We started working with Bonnefield several years ago and here we are today with a number of sales-leaseback agreements and we couldn’t be happier,” said Underhill. “Land has always been a good investment but today, for us anyway, there are better places in our business to put our money.” Can -Am Pepper Company is a fourth-generation grower and processor of vegetables, located in South Western Ontario.
Bonnefield’s original investment thesis to create equity-like returns without equity-like volatility remains intact.
“2018 reminded us of why we founded Bonnefield,” said Eisenhauer. “While other investment assets struggled in 2018, Bonnefield kept pace with its long‐term, stable return pattern for farmland. No one can predict with accuracy what financial market conditions will prevail during the next year or the next decade, but our hunch is that capital preservation and low volatility will once again be back in favour.”
With this in mind, and backed by a strong track record, Bonnefield is looking forward to its next 10 years supporting Canadian agriculture while providing investors a means to invest in Canada’s agriculture industry.