Masters in Business Podcast: Brandon Zick on How Private Equity Invests in Farmland

Podcast: Masters in Business
Host: Barry Ritholtz (Bloomberg)
Guest: Brandon Zick, CEO & CIO of Ceres Partners (Ceres Farmland Funds)
Air Date: November 7, 2025

Overview

This episode dives deep into the world of agricultural investing, with a focus on how private equity and institutional investors approach farmland as an asset class. Barry Ritholtz interviews Brandon Zick, who grew up on a dairy farm, found his way to Wall Street, and ultimately steered Ceres Farmland Funds from a fledgling operation to over $2 billion in assets. Their discussion covers the unique characteristics and risks of farmland, the investment process, value drivers, technological and societal change—and why more institutions are finally looking seriously at “dirt” as a strategic asset.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Brandon Zick’s Personal Journey

• Farm Upbringing Shaping Perspective
  • Grew up on a family-run dairy and crop farm in northeastern Pennsylvania. Learned the value of hard work and discipline, but also “definitely did not want to be a farmer for the rest of [my] life.” (02:44)
  • Early mornings: “For us, it'd be about 4:30… Even though I was the oldest brother, I was really good at [managing manure].” (03:14)
• Education and Early Career
  • Attended Notre Dame, majored in finance with a Japanese concentration out of pure curiosity and a willingness to try something different. (03:51)
  • Trained at Lehman Brothers in NYC pre-9/11, experienced Wall Street’s volatility firsthand. Later moved to Morgan Stanley, worked in strategic planning and investment management, saw major M&A and the impact of the 2008 financial crisis. (04:48–07:10)
• Pivot to Farmland Investing
  • Leveraged his valuation and transaction experience, plus rekindled agricultural interest, to target a niche: private equity farmland investing.
  • Met Ceres founder Perry Vieth via Notre Dame networking—emphasizes the critical nature of relationships in his career trajectory. (09:43–11:06)

2. The Case for Farmland as an Asset Class

• Why Invest in Farmland?
  • Unique among real assets: unlike office or residential property, farmland in the US isn’t institutionally “rolled up”—ownership is highly fragmented (families, heirs, trusts). “Institutional investors today own about 3%.” (13:23)
  • Extremely low vacancy: “There’s pretty much zero vacancy in U.S. farmland. Every farm that can be farmed is farmed every year.” (15:21)
  • Key drivers of transactions: generational change, tax events (step-up in basis), and policy changes. (17:32)
• Distinctive Investment Profile
  • Current Income: Portfolio yields via rental agreements to farmer-tenants—targeting 4%–5% gross rents. (26:18)
  • Inflation Hedge: “As the landowner, the actual dirt has a very positive correlation with inflation over time… this is an investment that's built for inflationary environments.” (25:03)
  • Capital Appreciation: Long-term land appreciation tracks improvements in technology, productivity, and inflation; about 6%/year according to Chicago Fed data. (23:43)
  • Diversification: Non-correlated returns versus public markets; “There’s no black box here to what we’re doing.” (28:45)

3. Investment Strategies and Operational Insights

• How Ceres Adds Value (Alpha)
  • Actively manages land: not just owning dirt, but improving it (irrigation, drainage, capex), optimizing crop rotation, and leveraging relationships with tenants.
  • Exploits inefficiencies: The family, trust, and estate sellers often under-rent or under-invest, creating opportunity for professional operators. “We’ve doubled the rent on day one … not because we wanted to charge an uneconomic rent, but because the farmer was willing to pay that rent for that land.” (28:45)
  • “Graham & Dodd valuation investing applied to farmland.” (28:35, 42:12)
• Multiple Revenue Streams
  • Beyond crops: Monetizing mineral rights, timber, hunting leases, and especially the emerging value from wind/solar/easements and even data centers. (30:36)
  • “We’re targeting 8–10% net through a cycle on farmland,” with solar options delivering “15–25% annualized income” during option periods. (33:01)
• Deal Sourcing & Scale
  • Growth through thousands of small “bolt-on” acquisitions; maintains discipline—accepts losing out vs. strategic buyers/farmers if the price doesn’t make sense. (40:48)
  • Portfolio: Over 500 farms, 170 tenants, 180,000 acres. Flexibility in lease lengths (3–5 years typical, longer for specialty crops). (35:28)
  • Scale brings new interest: Aggregated properties become attractive for solar, wind, and corporate buyers (incl. AI/data centers). (44:52)

4. Farmland & the Changing Economy

• Data Centers, Tech, and Energy
  • Rising demand from data center builders (Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta): “...the amount of capital that’s being invested… is really staggering.” Acreage that cost $8,000 can suddenly trade at $100k–300k for infrastructure uses. (44:52)
  • Critical location traits: access to power, water, fiber, and transportation links.
• AI & Agricultural Technology
  • Precision farming—use of GPS-guided tractors, variable-rate planting/fertilizing, drones, soil monitoring, and AI-driven irrigation scheduling. “Technology in agriculture is moving as fast as anywhere.” (59:55, 60:21)
  • Farmers as sophisticated business operators, not “pitchfork and shovel” types.

5. Risks and Considerations

• For Farmers
  • “Being a farmer is a very difficult business… so many different risk factors and decision points.” Farmers are price-takers on both input and output sides; little pricing power. (53:39)
  • Climate risk: Floods, drought, soil quality; mitigated by capex, irrigation, crop rotation, and location.
  • Competition and scale: Consolidation pressure, need for acreage scale to run efficient (and capital-intensive) operations. (40:45)
• For Investors
  • Market illiquidity: Farmland is not a public or easily traded asset. Transactions are wonky, local, relationship-driven, and not always efficiently priced.
  • Regulatory & Policy Risk: Water rights, environmental regulation (esp. California and the West); foreign currency and sovereign risk if investing outside the US.
  • Labor and Technology: Cost of labor vs. improvements via automation.
  • Risk of missing good deals (regret from conservatism), not errors of commission. (70:08)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Farming Upbringing:
  “We did real work... Milking cows, working with equipment, and then managing manure. And even though I was the oldest brother, I was really good at the third, so that’s what I was focused on.”
  —Brandon Zick (03:14)

• On Farmland Scarcity:
  “There’s pretty much zero vacancy in U.S. farmland. Every farm that can be farmed is farmed every year.”
  —Brandon Zick (15:21)

• On Institutional Roll-Up:
  “Institutional investors today own about 3% [of US farmland]. That includes the largest… like the Mormon Church, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation…”
  —Brandon Zick (13:23)

• On Investing Approach:
  “There’s no black box here to what we’re doing. It’s really a blocking and tackling strategy. We encourage all of our investors… come out and look at these properties and see what we’re doing.”
  —Brandon Zick (28:45)

• On Inflation:
  “As the landowner, the actual dirt has a very positive correlation with inflation over time… this is an investment that’s built for inflationary environments.”
  —Brandon Zick (25:03)

• On Technology Shift:
  “Technology in agriculture is moving as fast as anywhere. There are real tactical issues: labor’s too expensive, the cost of inputs has gone up…”
  —Brandon Zick (59:55)

• On Farmland Investing Lessons:
  “There are very few farms we missed on that I wouldn’t love to own today. Being able to look back in the rearview mirror…”
  —Brandon Zick (70:08)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:12] Brandon’s farm upbringing and work ethic
• [04:48] Early career on Wall Street, pivoting to private equity
• [11:06] Networking role in joining Ceres Partners
• [13:23] Why farmland is unique: institutional ownership and fragmentation
• [15:21] Farmland scarcity, occupancy, and transaction dynamics
• [23:43] Farmland as an inflation hedge and return driver
• [26:18] Yield and return structure for investors
• [28:35] “Graham & Dodd” approach to farmland; adding value/alpha
• [30:36] Alternative revenue: mineral, wind, solar, data centers
• [33:01] Solar income potential vs. traditional farming
• [35:28] Lease durations with tenants—specialty and row crops
• [40:45] Scaling up, farmer-buyer dynamics, “bolt-on” acquisitions
• [44:52] Farmland’s role in the AI/data center power buildout
• [53:39] Risks for farmers and investors
• [59:55] Opportunities ahead: shifting cropland east, technology investment
• [60:21] Precision farming, automation, and new tech
• [62:55] Biggest misconception: sophistication of US farmers, market inefficiency
• [68:37] Advice for young investors: networking, career pathways
• [70:08] Hindsight on farmland investing—regret about missed buys

Conclusion

Zick’s journey from childhood farmhand to big-dollar farmland portfolio manager typifies the intersection of tradition and innovation in the sector. Farmland, he argues, is a stubbornly inefficient, relationship-driven, and under-appreciated asset—poised for continued institutionalization and value growth, especially with technological and economic tailwinds. Yet, he cautions that true expertise, discipline, scale, and an active management philosophy are key to realizing farmland’s full investment promise.

End