Dirt Capital Partners

What Dirt Capital Partners does

Dirt Capital Partners (Dirt Capital Partners LLC) is a privately held, impact-focused farmland investment firm founded in 2013/2014 by Jacob Israelow and headquartered under New York law. The firm structures and deploys capital on behalf of accredited investors into regenerative and organic farm operations, primarily through customized cash leases with purchase options, joint ventures, buy-protect-sell arrangements, and mortgages. Target farmer partners must typically have two or more years of operating experience, $200,000+ in annual gross revenue, and project sizes exceeding $1M of land plus improvements. The firm also works with land trusts and conservation organizations to place conservation easements and protect agricultural land. As of 2024 the portfolio spans 15 U.S. states, with 52 projects completed, 24,000+ acres under regenerative management, and 25 conservation easements sold or in process.

The firm generates revenue through investment returns on owned farmland assets and related structures, including cash lease payments, purchase-option exercises, joint venture equity participation, and conservation easement proceeds. The investor base is restricted to SEC-defined accredited investors, with deal-sourcing driven by direct farmer outreach, partnership referrals from land trusts and agricultural nonprofits (e.g., Kitchen Table Advisors, Foodshed Capital, Viva Farms, Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT), and impact investing networks. The marketing footprint is relationship-driven: a three-form website intake (farmers, investors, general), newsletters, podcast appearances, annual impact reports, conference participation, and earned media coverage. The firm is not a technology company; its technical stack is limited to Squarespace for the website and Airtable for internal data management.

The leadership team combines financial-services pedigree (Goldman Sachs, TPG Real Estate, Angelo Gordon, W. P. Carey, BlackRock, Metacapital) with sustainable-agriculture depth (former National Young Farmers Coalition Co-Executive Director, AgDevCo senior agronomist, Yale School of the Environment), and is governed by an Investment Committee that includes external advisors from Veris Wealth Partners, Cienega Capital, and Equity Community Builders. The firm has received repeated third-party validation, including ImpactAssets 50 (IA 50) listings in 2024 and 2025 and inclusion in The Transformative 25 in 2024.

Name

Dirt Capital Partners

Legal name

Dirt Capital Partners LLC

Website

https://dirtpartners.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Dirt Capital Partners is an impact-focused farmland investment firm founded in 2013 that provides customized financing (leases, joint ventures, mortgages) to regenerative and organic farmers across 15 U.S. states, serving accredited investors seeking land-based impact exposure.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Impact Farmland Investment Management

NAICS

Other Financial Investment Activities (5239), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Lessors of Other Real Estate Property (53119)

SIC

Investors, Nec (6799), Real Estate Dealers (For Their Own Account) (6532)

akta.pro primary industry

Natural Resources Funds (Timberland, Farmland, Minerals) (FSANAEAK)

Keywords

• Farmland investment management
• Regenerative agriculture financing
• Impact investing farmland
• Agricultural land access
• Conservation easement investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Hudson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Farmland Investment Management: Dirt Capital Partners generates returns through acquiring farmland and providing customized financing structures to regenerative farmers. Revenue is derived from investment returns on farmland assets, including cash lease payments, purchase option exercises, joint venture equity participation, and conservation easement proceeds. The firm structures investments as customized cash leases with purchase options, joint ventures, buy-protect-sell arrangements, and mortgages for qualified farmers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Dirt Capital Partners is an impact-focused farmland investment firm that acquires and holds agricultural land and structures customized financing arrangements with regenerative farmers across the United States. Its offerings include cash leases with purchase options, joint-venture partnerships, buy-protect-sell arrangements, blended capital partnerships with grants and low-cost loans, and mortgages for farm operations. The firm raises capital exclusively from SEC-accredited investors and deploys it to enable long-term land access, succession, and expansion for sustainable farmers.

Product overview

Dirt Capital Partners is a farmland investment firm that provides various financing structures to regenerative farmers. The company does not offer a technology product platform; rather, it provides financial investment services including customized cash leases with purchase options, farmland conservation arrangements, joint-venture partnerships with farmers, blended capital partnerships, land and business transfer financing, and mortgage financing for agricultural operations seeking land access and security.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Customized Cash Leases with Purchase Options

Quantifiable outcome

• 52 farm projects completed since 2014
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 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 core and minor.

• Iroquois Valley Farmland REITcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2024Announced collaboration on Evergreen Ranch investment in Arizona, financing over 22,000 deeded and leased acres at Diamond E. Ranch to provide long-term land security for organic rancher Cindy Tolle. Both firms are regenerative agriculture-focused farmland investors.
• Gallatin Valley Land TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal co-investor partner on Amaltheia Farm project in Belgrade, MT. Partnership supports farmland conservation alongside investment in regenerative dairy operation.
• Kitchen Table AdvisorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in sourcing and supporting sustainable farm businesses in Watsonville, CA for Rancho Corralitos Agricultura project. Provides business advisory services to farm partners.
• The People's Land FundminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-investor partner on Rancho Corralitos Agricultura project supporting regenerative agriculture farmers through mission-aligned land financing.
• Foodshed CapitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on Dodo Farm project in Mount Airy, MD supporting Black agrarian community land access initiatives and sustainable farm operations.
• Viva FarmscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFarm business incubator partner that DCP worked with to make investment in Farias Farm, an organic diversified vegetable and fruit operator in Washington State's Skagit Valley.
• Scenic HudsonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner referenced in 2024 Impact Report case studies. Environmental organization focused on land conservation in the Hudson Valley that has collaborated on farmland protection projects.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Emerging players

• AgDevCo: Specialist impact investor in African agriculture. Adjacent peer: Martín Lemos was a senior agronomist at AgDevCo. Comparable in its agriculture-impact orientation but operates in a different geography.
• Foodshed Capital: Nonprofit/impact lender providing capital to small regenerative farmers in the Mid-Atlantic. Overlaps with DCP on farmer partnerships (e.g., Dodo Farm) but operates more as a loan fund than a farmland principal investor.

Direct peers

• AcreTrader: Online farmland investing marketplace offering fractional ownership of individual farms. Direct competitor for accredited investors seeking U.S. farmland exposure, with a more standardized product.
• Local Farms Fund: Impact farmland fund that leases land to organic and sustainable farmers in the Northeast. Directly comparable in farmer-partner focus and regional farmland investment thesis; Amanda Zakharov has prior affiliation.
• Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT: Public-purpose REIT that finances organic and regenerative farmers through long-term leases and mortgages. Closest functional peer — DCP has even co-invested with Iroquois Valley on the 22,000-acre Diamond E. Ranch.
• Farmland LP: Manages a fund that acquires conventional farmland and converts it to organic/regenerative production. Competes for the same pool of impact-oriented farmland investors and farmer partners.
• FarmTogether: Tech-enabled farmland investment platform offering fractional ownership across row crops, permanent crops, and livestock. Competes for impact and accredited-investor capital targeting U.S. farmland.

Broad incumbents

• Peoples Company: Large U.S. agricultural real estate services and investment firm with brokerage, appraisal, and farmland investment management. A broader incumbent that competes for institutional farmland capital across row-crop and specialty assets.
• TIAA / Nuveen (Global Agriculture): One of the largest institutional farmland investors globally through Nuveen's TIAA Global Agriculture program. Sets the institutional benchmark for scale and return expectations against which DCP will be judged by LPs.

Others

• Slow Money: Nonprofit network catalyzing local investment in sustainable food and farm businesses. Functionally an ecosystem participant and indirect capital source for regenerative agriculture — Amanda Zakharov is connected through Slow Money NYC.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dirtpartners

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 Dirt Capital Partners