What makes a farmland REIT an attractive investment?

Farmland REITs are attractive investments because they offer income from dividends and capital appreciation as the value of their farms increases. They can also provide an inflationary hedge to your portfolio.

How do farmland REITs generate income?

Farmland REITs primarily generate income from rent (fixed rent and participation rent, which is a percentage of a farm's revenues). However, some farmland REITs also operate farms and earn income from selling crops and crop insurance. Additionally, some farmland REITs make money by selling farms, operating a farm brokerage business, owning water rights, and renting land to energy companies to produce wind or solar energy.

Are farmland REITs a safe investment?

Farmland REITs aren't as safe as other REITs due to their smaller size and the impact of crop price volatility on a farmer's ability to pay rent.

Why are billionaires buying all the farmland?

Billionaires are buying farmland because it has historically been a strong asset class with intrinsic value that steadily appreciates. Over the last two decades, U.S. farmland has delivered an average return of 12.8%.

Can I invest in farmland REITs for long-term growth?

Yes, you can invest in farmland REITs for long-term growth. Farmland investments provide two sources of return:Current income from farmland rents and crop salesLand value appreciation.According to the USDA, the value of U.S. farmland has appreciated by an average annual rate of 4.6% over the last 20 years. Investing in farmland REITs can help you benefit from the long-term appreciation of farmland.

Best Farmland Stocks for 2026 and How to Invest

REITs enable anyone to invest in farmland, which has historically been an excellent asset class.

By Matthew DiLallo – Updated Apr 6, 2026 at 4:53 PM EST | Fact-checked by Frank Bass

Key Points

Farmland REITs offer an easy entry into farmland investing with high total return potential.
Investing in farmland REITs provides income from dividends backed by land rent and crop sales.
Farmland is a stable investment, less impacted by market volatility and inflation.

Farmland REITs are a special type of real estate investment trust that owns land leased to farmers. These REITs provide an easy way for anyone to invest in farmland.

Historically, the sector has produced attractive long-term total returns boosted by steadily appreciating land values and crop-driven rental income. Farmland has also traditionally been an excellent inflation hedge and is less volatile than other asset classes.

These characteristics make farmland REITs a superb way for investors to diversify their portfolios. Here's a closer look at how to invest in farmland REITs. We'll dig deeper into how they make money, examine their advantages and risk factors, and consider a couple of farmland REIT investment options.

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A farmer standing in a field and holding a tablet. — Getty Images.

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Two top farmland stocks for 2026

There were two publicly traded farmland REITs as of mid-2026:

Ticker Information Table
Name and ticker	Market cap	Dividend yield	Industry
Farmland Partners (NYSE:FPI)	$443.2 million	2.63%	Specialized REITs
Gladstone Land (NASDAQ:LAND)	$405.5 million	5.96%	Specialized REITs

Data as of May 17, 2026. Showing 2 of 2 tickers.

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1. Gladstone Land

NASDAQ: LAND

Gladstone Land

Today's Change

(-0.42%) $-0.04

Current Price

$9.40

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$405M

Day's Range

$9.23 - $9.41

52wk Range

$8.47 - $13.00

Volume

499K

Avg Vol

613K

Gross Margin

30.18%

Dividend Yield

5.96%

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Gladstone Land (LAND -0.42%) owned 144 farms with 99,000 acres in 14 states as of early 2026. This farmland REIT also owned 56,000 acre-feet of banked water in California. The company primarily owns farms in regions where its tenants can grow fresh produce row crops, such as berries and vegetables, that are planted and harvested annually.

It also owns farms that produce permanent crops, including almonds, apples, cherries, figs, lemons, olives, pistachios, blueberries, and wine grapes. Farmers typically plant permanent crops every 10 to 20 years and harvest them annually. The REIT leases the land to farmers under long-term NNN leases.

Gladstone Land focuses on fresh-produce farms because they're less risky than commodity crops. They tend to have better water access, are better insulated from crop price volatility, are less dependent on government subsidies and tariffs for protection, have lower storage costs, and have higher rental rates.

The REIT's focus on fresh produce has paid off for investors. Gladstone has consistently paid monthly dividends since its initial public offering (IPO) in 2013.

2. Farmland Partners

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NYSE: FPI

Farmland Partners

Today's Change

(-1.84%) $-0.19

Current Price

$10.16

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$443M

Day's Range

$10.13 - $10.27

52wk Range

$9.18 - $13.22

Volume

414K

Avg Vol

504K

Gross Margin

74.01%

Dividend Yield

2.63%

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Benefits and risks of investing in Farmland stocks

Investing in farmland REITs has its pros and cons. Some of the advantages are:

Portfolio diversification: Farmland offers investors uncorrelated returns with other major asset classes, such as stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies. That makes it an excellent way to diversify a portfolio and help reduce its overall volatility.
Inflation hedge: Farmland has generally offered a better hedge against inflation than stocks, bonds, and gold. Historically, there has been about a 70% correlation between the value of U.S. farmland and the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Farmland investments with participation rents tend to benefit from inflation, as rising food prices should enable the farm to sell its crops at higher prices.
Attractive total returns: Farmland provides investors with two sources of returns: rental income and capital appreciation. The two sources delivered a combined average annual return of 12.8% over the last 20 years.

While farmland has been an excellent long-term investment, it isn't without risk:

Natural disasters: Droughts, wildfires, insect infestations, and other events can affect a farm's harvest and its ability to pay rent.
Crop prices: They can be highly volatile and affect farm income, especially for annual commodity crops such as corn, soybeans, and wheat.
Farmer-tenants: Although farmland has been an excellent investment overall, farming has been a much more challenging business due to natural disasters, crop prices, equipment costs, labor costs, debt, and other issues. If farmers run into financial trouble, they may be unable to make their rental payments.

Should you invest in farmland stocks?

Farmland REITs enable anyone to harvest the benefits of investing in farmland. Historically, the sector has been an excellent investment, delivering attractive total returns from rental income and value appreciation. On top of that, farmland is an excellent inflation hedge and is uncorrelated with the markets. These features make it an ideal complement to a diversified portfolio.

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FAQs on Farmland REITs

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About the Author

Matt DiLallo has been a contributing Motley Fool stock analyst specializing in the energy, industrials, and real estate sectors since 2012. He also covers dividend-paying stocks, pre-IPO companies, ETFs, and other investing topics. He holds an MBA from Liberty University.

TMFmd19

@MatthewDiLallo

Matt DiLallo has positions in Gladstone Land. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Farmland Partners. The Motley Fool recommends Gladstone Land. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Best Farmland Stocks for 2026 and How to Invest

REITs enable anyone to invest in farmland, which has historically been an excellent asset class.

Key Points

Two top farmland stocks for 2026

1. Gladstone Land

NASDAQ: LAND

Key Data Points

2. Farmland Partners

NYSE: FPI

Key Data Points

Benefits and risks of investing in Farmland stocks

Should you invest in farmland stocks?

Related investing topics

Best Residential REITs for 2026 and How to Invest

8 Ways Artificial Intelligence is Being Used in Real Estate

How to Calculate Return on Investment (ROI) in Real Estate

Best Real Estate Investment Funds for 2026

FAQs on Farmland REITs

What makes a farmland REIT an attractive investment?

What makes a farmland REIT an attractive investment?

How do farmland REITs generate income?

How do farmland REITs generate income?

Are farmland REITs a safe investment?

Are farmland REITs a safe investment?

Why are billionaires buying all the farmland?

Why are billionaires buying all the farmland?

Can I invest in farmland REITs for long-term growth?

Can I invest in farmland REITs for long-term growth?

About the Author

Read Next

Stocks Mentioned

Premium Investing Services

NASDAQ: LAND

Key Data Points

2. Farmland Partners

NYSE: FPI

Key Data Points

Benefits and risks of investing in Farmland stocks

Should you invest in farmland stocks?

Best Residential REITs for 2026 and How to Invest

8 Ways Artificial Intelligence is Being Used in Real Estate

How to Calculate Return on Investment (ROI) in Real Estate

Best Real Estate Investment Funds for 2026

FAQs on Farmland REITs

What makes a farmland REIT an attractive investment?

What makes a farmland REIT an attractive investment?

How do farmland REITs generate income?

How do farmland REITs generate income?

Are farmland REITs a safe investment?

Are farmland REITs a safe investment?

Why are billionaires buying all the farmland?

Why are billionaires buying all the farmland?

Can I invest in farmland REITs for long-term growth?

Can I invest in farmland REITs for long-term growth?

How to invest in farmland REITs