1315_Nareit Testimonials Fabbri_2023-06-16_V2
06/27/2023
| by
Nareit Staff
Luca Fabbri, president and CEO of Farmland Partners Inc. (NYSE: FPI), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITweek: 2023 Investor Conference, held in New York June 6-8.
Fabbri discussed some of the broad trends across the U.S. farmland economy today, as well as the REIT’s decision to sell farmland to tenants in Nebraska and South Carolina, and the potential for Farmland Partners to use more of its land for renewable energy opportunities in the future.
During the interview, Fabbri noted that:
- 2023 is now forecast by the USDA to be the second most profitable year for U.S. farmers on record, after 2022.
- From a credit and equity perspective, the farmland industry is “incredibly strong.”
- “We are pruning our portfolio very selectively here and there to use the proceeds to reduce leverage and interest expense and also to buy back some stock.”
- When it considers selling land, Farmland Partners offers it to the tenant first, if possible.
- Higher and better use opportunities for the REIT’s land “always crop up, almost by luck. Whether it’s development or renewable energy possibilities, we always capitalize on those opportunities and go after them.”