Field Notes: Macquarie backs green fertilizer; Warakirri launches open-ended farmland vehicle; Carlyle plants European roots in global irrigation...

Macquarie backs Swiss green fertilizer developer; Warakirri launches open-ended farmland vehicle; Carlyle plants European root in global irrigation market; UN flags ag’s water use risk, and more. Welcome to Field Notes, Agri Investor's start-of-the-week briefing.

Tips and feedback to Binyamin Ali or email [email protected].

Macquarie folds green fertilizer into energy transition strategy

Macquarie Asset Management ’s October investment into Swiss green nitrogen company Atlas Agro was prompted by an ongoing revaluation of what constitutes an infrastructure asset.

The asset manager, which has substantial infrastructure and agriculture portfolios, deployed capital from its GIG Energy Transition Solutions Fund to make the $325 million investment. The vehicle aims to support decarbonization through support for businesses operating in areas of the transition to a low-carbon economy more nascent than wind and solar electricity generation.

William Gerald Demas , the head of Macquarie’s green investments in the Americas, told Agri Investor the MGETS vehicle’s focus on nascent areas of the energy transition beyond wind and solar reflects an ongoing re-examination among investors of what constitutes “infrastructure”.

Read the full story here.

They said it

“I don’t want to look back after 10 years again in my career and regret. I don’t want to regret the inaction on human rights and I don’t want to regret that we didn’t make the world a more socially equitable place”

Manulife Investment Management chief sustainability officer Biran Kernohan, speaking at the Impact Investor Summit, said a similar effect to that which was achieved by Al Gore’s 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth on climate change, is needed around global wealth inequality.

Fund watch

Warakirri’s new open-end farmland fund

Warakirri Asset Management , one of the sector’s largest farmland asset managers, is returning to market with its first commingled fund targeted at institutional investors in more than eight years.

The firm has launched the Sustainable Broadacre Cropping Strategy, an open-end fund that will invest in a range of assets across Australia’s major grain production regions.

Warakirri managing director Jim McKay told Agri Investor the firm is aiming to build a portfolio of assets worth between...Read the full story here.

Emissions

Asia’s food challenge

A new report published jointly by 普华永道 , Rabobank , Temasek and Terrascope has found that the agri-food industry accounts for more than a third of global carbon dioxide emissions. This is even more pronounced in South and Southeast Asia, where it makes up more than half of all emissions.

The third edition of the biennial Asia Food Challenge Report found there is a significant opportunity here, given it is possible to reduce carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from the agri-food sector in Asia by 12 percent before 2030, equivalent to all the emissions produced by the global aviation industry in 2022... Read more here

Irrigation

Carlyle plants European roots in irrigation market

Nasdaq-traded Carlyle announced the creation of a platform aiming to provide a one-stop-shop across all irrigation technologies.

The new company, the Farmfront Group , is headquartered in Milan, Italy and will combine operations of four irrigation providers acquired by The Carlyle Europe Partners platform since 2022.

These include Irrimic of Piacenza, Italy; Otec of France; Spain-headquartered RKD; and Ocmis Group, which is headquartered in Modena, Italy and was acquired by Carlyle last year. Read more...

VC fundraising

Ovo, a Dutch start-up commercializing technology that introduces efficiency into poultry production through sensors that determine hatching egg gender, secured a €40 million loan facility from the European Investment Bank (EIB) through its InvestEU program.

Amos Dairy, a producer and exporter of dairy goods headquartered in Uganda, secured a $10 million investment from, EXEO Capital’s Agri-Vie Fund II.

BiomEdit , an Indiana-headquartered start-up developing microbiomes that reduce emissions and increase feed efficiency in beef and dairy cattle, received a $4.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Also in the news…

Intuitive edge: Agriculture is among the more easy-to-explain elements of the emerging climate tech market, according to an Activate Capital manager with experience across industrial sectors (Venture Capital Journal [registration required]).

Ties tame through trade? USDA’s decision to send a delegation to a trade fair in China came soon after 11 trade agreements for American corn, wheat and other commodities were signed earlier in October and was interpreted as part of an effort to foster cooperation between the US and China (Global Times).

Trouble in Timberland: A man was reportedly arrested at Miami International Airport on charges of having fled to Latin America in 2014 upon learning he was under FBI investigation for mismanaging funds of New Hampshire-headquartered timberland manager Global Forest Partners (WMUR.com).

Ag driving climate catastrophe tipping point says UN: “Drastic changes” to the global agricultural system will be required to avert risks related to groundwater depletion, according to a United Nations report that highlighted that trend as among six “risk tipping point” already changing lives across the world (Phys Org).

Agribusiness + finance = natural capital: Cibus Capital hired Kathleen Weldon, an executive with experience at Louis Dreyfus Company, JPMorgan, Blackstone and BlackRock, to fill a newly created natural capital position focused on investments and portfolio company best practice (Agri Investor).

Read this week's Field Notes by heading over Agri Investor...

#agribusiness #irrigation #fundraising #farmland #naturalcapital