AgIS Capital

What AgIS Capital does

AgIS Capital is a privately held, employee-owned agricultural investment management firm founded in 2013 by Jeffrey Conrad, Kenneth Warlick, and Carolyn Bailey, all former Hancock Agricultural Investment Group executives. The firm provides institutional investors with access to farmland assets concentrated in the permanent crop sector — almonds, pistachios, wine grapes, walnuts, apples, cherries, pears, and olives — using a "private equity-like" approach that combines fee simple acquisitions, debt, equity, and joint venture structures, including co-investments in upstream commodity processing assets.

The firm's core operations span direct farmland asset management (overseen by AgIS Property Management under Carl Evers III, AFM) and a research-led client engagement model. AgIS produces a suite of proprietary publications — the annual State of the Market report, the quarterly State of the Harvest, and the quarterly State of Returns — authored by VP of Acquisitions Cody P. Dahl, Ph.D., and has joined the NCREIF Permanent Cropland Index. It maintains Leading Harvest Sustainable Farmland Management Standard certification, renewed in 2024 with annual surveillance audits.

Commercially, AgIS serves sophisticated institutional investors — pension funds, state school lands, and similar entities — through direct, relationship-based distribution led by VP of Business Development Stephen Kenney. The firm operates from a Clearwater, Florida headquarters and offices in Boston, Des Moines, Turlock, Richland, Charlotte, and Tampa, with operations concentrated in California's Central Valley and Washington State's Pacific Northwest. Revenue is generated through investment management fees and private equity/debt returns on commodity processing investments; specific fee structures and AUM are not publicly disclosed.

Name

AgIS Capital

Legal name

AgIS Capital Inc.

Website

https://agiscapital.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

AgIS Capital is an employee-owned agricultural investment management firm that provides institutional investors with private-equity-style access to U.S. permanent crop farmland, including almonds, pistachios, wine grapes, walnuts, and apples, via direct ownership, debt, equity, and joint venture structures.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Investment Management

NAICS

Crop Production (111)

SIC

Investors, Nec (6799)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSAAAKAI

Natural Resources — Farmland & Agriculture

Financial & Insurance/Asset & Wealth Management/Asset Management — Real Assets (Real Estate, Infrastructure, Natural Resources)

SECONDARYFSANAEAK

Natural Resources Funds (Timberland, Farmland, Minerals)

Financial & Insurance/Private Equity & Venture Capital/Real Assets Funds (Infrastructure, Real Estate, Energy)

Keywords

• Farmland investment management
• Permanent crop agriculture
• Institutional investment services
• Agricultural asset management
• Farmland private equity

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Investment Management Fees: AgIS Capital generates revenue through investment management fees charged to institutional investors for managing their farmland assets. The firm utilizes co-investment structures to align interests with clients.
2. Private Equity and Debt Investment Returns: The firm makes private equity and debt investments in associated commodity processing assets further up the agricultural value chain, generating returns on these investments.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

AgIS Capital is a private, employee-owned investment manager that sources, underwrites, and manages institutional farmland portfolios concentrated in water-rich U.S. permanent crop assets (almonds, pistachios, wine grapes, walnuts, apples, cherries, pears, olives). The firm deploys capital through fee simple, debt, equity, and joint venture structures and supplements investment management with private equity and debt investments in associated commodity processing assets.

Product overview

AgIS Capital is an agricultural investment management firm offering institutional investors a disciplined, private equity-like approach to investing in farmland assets. The core offering consists of agricultural investment management services focused on the permanent crop sector, supported by a suite of proprietary research publications including the State of the Market Report (annual), State of the Harvest Report (quarterly), and State of Returns (quarterly) analyses. The firm manages permanent crop assets across almonds, pistachios, wine grapes, walnuts, apples, cherries, pears, and olives, utilizing creative fee simple, debt, equity and joint venture structures. The Perspectives from the Field series provides ongoing insights from the investment team on market trends and sustainability practices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Agricultural Investment Management Services Discretionary and co-investment management of institutional farmland portfolios concentrated in water-rich U.S. permanent crop assets, serving pension funds, state school lands, and other sophisticated investors with fee simple, debt, equity, and joint venture deal structures.
• Permanent Crop Asset Management Direct operational oversight and management of permanent crop ranches producing almonds, pistachios, wine grapes, walnuts, apples, cherries, pears, and olives across California, Washington, and other U.S. regions, conducted through AgIS Property Management under Leading Harvest sustainability certification.
• State of the Market Report Annual report providing institutional investors with an overview of trends and forces influencing U.S. farmland returns, examination of the NCREIF Farmland Index, and analysis of permanent crop performance across various timeframes.
• State of the Harvest Report Quarterly report providing an overview of selected commodity markets, with each issue examining factors impacting the performance of specific permanent cropland assets and discussing near- and long-term outlooks.
• State of Returns Quarterly analysis providing a summary of NCREIF Farmland Index results, including annual returns for the Total Farmland, Annual Cropland, and Permanent Cropland Indices.

Quantifiable outcome

• NCREIF Permanent Cropland Index total return of -10.2% in 2024 (lowest since inception), demonstrating market leadership despite challenging conditions
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Napa CountyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 September 2025AgIS Capital partnered with Napa County and UC Davis on a project to monitor the American Kestrel on one of their permanent crop assets. This biodiversity monitoring initiative demonstrates the firm's commitment to sustainable farming practices and environmental stewardship.
• University of California, Davis (UC Davis)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 September 2025Partnered with UC Davis and Napa County on American Kestrel monitoring project on AgIS Capital permanent crop assets. Collaboration with academic institution for biodiversity research.
• American Farmland OwnerminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 22 February 2024Cody P. Dahl, Ph.D. appeared on the 'Where Landowners Get Their News' podcast hosted by Emmy award-winning journalist Dave Price, discussing farmland returns, trade wars, and agricultural investment trends.
• Tehama County Resource Conservation District (RCD)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 September 2023RCD provided assistance in conducting distribution uniformity tests on California permanent crop irrigation systems. RCDs can often fund these tests, providing cost savings for farmers.
• East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District (RCD)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 September 2023RCD provided assistance in conducting distribution uniformity tests on California permanent crop irrigation systems. Partnership supports water and energy optimization efforts.
• Leading HarvestcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 August 2023Leading Harvest is an organization that helps AgIS Capital contribute to advancing sustainable agriculture and provides public assurance of sustainable farming systems through third-party independent audit reports. Certification achieved every three years with annual surveillance audits.
• Almond Board of CaliforniaminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 25 January 2022Carl Evers and Farm Manager Jeremy Olday appeared as guests on the Almond Board of California's Almond Journey Podcast, discussing whole orchard recycling, cover crops, and sustainable farming practices.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Hancock Agricultural Investment Group (Manulife): Manulife's agricultural investment arm and the firm AgIS's founders came from. Directly competes for institutional farmland allocations in the U.S. and is one of the largest managers of permanent and annual cropland in the country — the most direct comparator.
• Westchester Group Investment Advisers (Nuveen/TIAA): One of the largest U.S. farmland investment managers, now part of Nuveen (TIAA). Competes head-to-head with AgIS for institutional permanent crop mandates across the same tree-nut, fruit, and vineyard asset classes.
• Gladstone Land Corporation: Publicly-traded farmland REIT focused on permanent crops (berries, nuts, tree fruit, vineyards) — operates in the same California and Pacific Northwest geographies as AgIS, though it owns rather than manages for institutional clients.
• Farmland Partners Inc. Publicly-traded farmland REIT owning row crops and, increasingly, permanent crops across the U.S. Direct geographic and crop-class overlap with AgIS, with a comparable institutional client base at the corporate level.
• Bonnefield Financial: Canadian-based farmland investment manager serving institutional investors across North America. Closely comparable business model — pooled farmland funds with permanent and annual crop exposure — though focused more heavily on Canadian row crops.
• Peoples Company: U.S. farmland brokerage, management, and investment firm with institutional land management capabilities. Comparable in offering farmland asset management to institutional clients, though broader in scope including brokerage and appraisal.
• Agricultural Capital (AgCap): Specialized permanent crop investment manager focused on almonds, pistachios, walnuts, and citrus in California — virtually identical target asset class and institutional LP base as AgIS Capital.

Emerging players

• Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT: Public, mission-driven farmland REIT focused on organic and regenerative farmland. Smaller and more niche than AgIS, but operates in adjacent geographies and competes for mission-aligned institutional and family-office capital.

Broad incumbents

• Brookfield Agricultural Group: Brookfield's global farmland platform — one of the largest alternative asset managers' agricultural divisions. Competes with AgIS for institutional permanent crop allocations but at vastly greater scale and with a permanent crop, annual crop, and timberland mix.
• Macquarie Asset Management (Macquarie Agriculture): Global asset manager with significant agricultural row crop and permanent crop exposure via its Paragon and Crop Management Australia platforms. A scaled incumbent competitor for global institutional capital with permanent crop mandates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/agis-capital-llc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about AgIS Capital