Ep 5 - Emma Fuller: No Need to Be Concessionary – Soil Health, Cashflow & Market-Rate Returns

The Business of Soil Health

In this conversation, Emma Fuller, co-founder of Fractal.ag, discusses their novel farmland investment model, which makes minority equity investments in farmland while incentivizing soil health practices.

Fractal is the first widely available farmland equity product, unlocking capital for farmers while they maintain ownership and control. Emma talks in detail about:

• Fractal’s ownership model and underwriting approach
• Their core hypothesis that soil health drives better productivity and cash flows, which in turn drives higher land values
• How producers use the capital Fractal makes available (spoiler alert: most use it to expand their operation by buying additional land)
• How Fractal’s model encourages soil health practices, and how producers can stack discounts by stacking those practices
• The strong demand they’re seeing from producers
• The challenges of raising capital as first-time fund managers
• How much capital they’ve raised and deployed, and the total they’re targeting for their fund
• Her view on the vital role that commodity production plays in scaling regenerative agriculture

Chapters

00:14 Introduction to Fractal.ag and their Unique Model

03:00 Addressing the Need for Equity Financing in Farming

07:04 Incentivizing Soil Health and Climate-Smart Practices

10:40 Making Money through Annual Payments and Property Sales

22:22 Investment Model

25:00 Long-Term Partnership

27:21 Exit Options

32:00 Fundraising and Deployment

36:45 Scaling Impact Through Commodity Production

41:58 Financial Flexibility for Farmers

Keywords

Fractal, farmland investment, minority equity, soil health, regenerative agriculture, farmer financing, agricultural practices, impact investing, sustainable farming, capital deployment