The financialization of agri-food in Canada and Australia: Corporate farmland and farm ownership in the grains and oilseed sector

Abstract

This paper examines new patterns of financial investment in farmland and agricultural production in Canada and Australia, focussing on the grains sector. I situate these trends in relation to the on-going financialization of the global agri-food sector, a process through which finance capital and financial logics exercise increasing influence over food production and distribution. Especially since the “global food crisis” of 2007-8, there has been growing investor interest in farming and agriculture. In the global South, large-scale farmland buy-ups, referred to as the global “land grab”, have generated considerable controversy. Less is known, however, about how domestic and foreign investment is affecting patterns of farm ownership and control in the global North. I document recent corporate and financial investment in farmland and farm ownership in each country and how differences in regulatory environments, institutional factors, and politics are shaping the scope and pace of change in each farming sector.