1. REVIEWING TITLE COMMITMENTS AND SURVEYS
James D. Eggleston, Jr.
Eggleston King, LLP
102 Houston Avenue, Suite 300 Weatherford, TX 76086

2. Reviewing Title Commitments and Surveys
Why is “farm and ranch” land important?
• billion acres of land in lower 48 states
• 47% of this land is farm/ranch land, consisting of 8% of total
value of US land (910+/-MM acres in 2017)
• Slightly more than 2.0 MM farms, number decreasing, avg.
size increasing
• It is a storehouse of wealth, indispensable input
component in production, and a natural resource that is
finite in quantity and fixed in location
Where are the future investors coming from?
• Local landowners, institutional and foreign investors (more than 30 MM acres (2% of total), size of Tennessee)
• China: 400 farms, 33 food processing plants, one in four hogs ($4.72B sale included 100,000+ acres of land)
$30B of farmland trades hands EVERY YEAR.

3. Reviewing Title Commitments and Surveys
Drafting Effective Agreements for Farm and Ranch Acquisitions and Operations

4. Reviewing Title Commitments and Surveys
How Quickly is the Population Growing?
Hourly “net gain”: 8,774
Daily “net gain”: 226,184
Monthly “net gain”: 6,785,525 (Houston = 6.9 MM)
2018 “net gain”: 82,557,224 (1.09%)
World Population Today: 7,632,819,325
Between 2050 and 2055: World will go over 10 BILLION
Next 35 years – we must produce more food than in the previous 10,000 years combined!!!

5. Reviewing Title Commitments and Surveys
Who owns Land?
1.35 billion acres is privately owned: 58.7% of total
(Top 100: 30 million acres – 2% of America’s land mass)
Largest owners: (8/18/17)
John Malone (media/cattle): 2,200,000 ac
Ted Turner (media/wildlife conservation): 2,000,000 ac
Emmerson family (Sierra Pacific Industries/lumber): 1,955,000 ac
Stan Kroenke (LA Rams/Denver Nuggets/Wal-Mart): 1,380,000 ac
Reed Family (Green Diamond Resources/lumber): 1,370,000 ac
Brad Kelley (discount tobacco/wildlife-cattle): 1,150,000 ac
10 of top 25 in Texas (#9) King Ranch: 911,215 ac in Texas

6. Do I Really Have an “Ag Exemption”?
Why are Investors Buying Farms?
Real assets, real income – values rise regardless of rents
Global demand for food – emerging economies
Growing/emerging middle class – Asia is largest
Demand for natural gas/water – alternative energy demands (ethanol, biodiesel, wind)
63% of Russia, Brazil, India and China – WATER STRESS
Resistant to inflation
Declining supply of “arable” land - 35% non-useable
Comparative US advantages in agriculture
“IMPACT INVESTING”

7. Reviewing Title Commitments and Surveys
What are the Potential Returns?
US farmland’s average annual return:
Over last 10 years: 16%
Over last 20 years: 12%
S&P 500 had average annual return
Over last 10 years: 10.33%
Over last 20 years: 8.91%
Investment without volatility of “equities”
“Gold with a Dividend”

8. Reviewing Title Commitments and Surveys
Trends in Agriculture
2050
“Precision Agriculture”/”Digital Farming”/“Big Data” (drones) – who owns it?
AgTech investments/“Biologicals”/”Symbiogenetics”/Stress Resistant Crops
Shifting farm structure – older farmers, larger farms
Biotechnology strategy’s – GMO’s v. public opinion (cf. China)
Specialization – economies of scale, technology, government policy
Resources Scarcity – Ogallala Aquifer – 30% of ag water; 70% depleted
Commodity environment is changing – biofuels declining, less corn demand, consumption by demand, exporting
Meat demand increasing next 10 years
Sustainability, transparency, tracking, humane treatment of animals
Environmental regulation, Clean Water Act – processes have to change
Government policy in flux