Farmland real estate investment financial and land grabbing: the performance of agricultural companies controlled by financial capital in the Brazilian land market

Abstract

The article analyzes the emergence of a new type of agricultural company in Brazil: Farmland real estate investment financial companies. To be characterized as such, besides being controlled by financial capital the companies need to consider land as a financial asset, that is, the property management model should be determined by investors’ expectations of obtaining returns equal to or higher than other forms of investment in speculative markets. Thus, besides proposing a typology of these companies, the paper also presents the pricing of land. The data and information were obtained in fieldwork (between 2014 and 2019) with visits to the companies and interviews with employees, managers, and directors, and in specialized newspapers and magazines, scientific articles, and institutional reports. The examples analyzed in this article demonstrate one of the expressions of land grabbing in the Brazilian territory by emphasizing the metamorphosis of the relationship between financial capital and the land market.

Keywords:
Farmland real estate investment financial companies; Financial capital; Land market; Land grabbing; Modern agricultural frontier