Financing the farm to feed the globe: adequate capital needed for Northern farms.

AuthorKelly, Lindsay
PositionFinance

As the need for more food ramps up around the globe, Joelle Faulkner believes there has never been a better time to invest in agriculture in Northern Ontario.

The North has one of the biggest assets that other jurisdictions are missing: rainwater. That gives the area a huge advantage when it comes to cash crops, Faulkner said.

"(Northerners) don't appreciate it because they don't need to, because rain comes too commonly, relative to other places, but from a crop perspective, that's a huge, huge win," said Faulkner, president and CEO at Area One Farms.

"So when we look at financing the growth of farms in Northern Ontario, we're really looking at how Northern Ontario can contribute to a world food issue, or what will become a world food issue, and how can we most effectively use this really amazing resource that is rainwater."

Since its founding in 2012, Area One Farms has been financing farming operations across Canada, taking on projects that the banks or funding agencies won't.

Assistance from Area One Farms enables farmers to expand their operations without paying fees, rent or interest, and the firm tailors partnerships to meet the needs of individual farmers and their operations.

Backers invest in property acquisition, land improvements, or equipment, and the farmer is able to maintain financial stability while growing the business. Profits are shared between operators and the investors.

Most of Area One's investments to date have been in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and southern Ontario, but Faulkner believes Northern Ontario--in particular, the Clay Belt stretching from Kapuskasing to Rouyn-Noranda, Que--could experience the next big farming renaissance.

Talented farmers, an interested and supportive government, and good infrastructure via rail and road are all assets that make the North a prized region for food production, Faulkner said.

"It has a completely sustainable water supply for potentially massively increasing feeding what is going to be a hungry world, and because of the rainwater and the infrastructure, it can do it at really low cost," she said.

"So then the question becomes 'How do we find the capital to do that work,' and that's what we've been working on."

In the last 18 months, the southern Ontario-based investment firm has raised $45 million and applied it to farms across the country. Faulkner's goal is to raise "five times that amount" over the next 18 months.

Faulkner praises funding programs under the Northern...

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