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As we settle into the new year and make plans for 2024, we want to reflect on and celebrate our work in 2023. Year-end is a time of reflection and renewal. It is in that spirit that we are sharing some of the key milestones achieved in 2023 and some of our priorities for the year ahead.
In 2023, we embarked upon a strategic planning process where we landed on an ambitious vision statement:
An agricultural system transformed through land stewardship, rooted in organic farmland, for the health of people, communities, and our planet.
Key 2023 Milestones
- Initiated dialogue with over 60 new farmers
- Deployed over $14 million across 16 transactions with 14 different farmers
- Built a pipeline of investment opportunities with new and existing farmers approaching $20 million
- Added 55 new investors
- Launched the $25 million RNR Note Offering to provide support to socially disadvantaged borrowers
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We became the sole member of Healing Soils Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to supporting farmers
As of December 31, 2023, Iroquois Valley’s portfolio totaled $97 million in total assets and is invested with 67 farmers across 19 states spanning over 30,000 acres. The positive benefits of organic agriculture on the environment and human health are well-documented. A key priority for 2024 is to demonstrate our farmers’ impact with data. This process begins with our annual soil health survey that farmers in the portfolio complete.
Beyond our positive impact, financial performance was strong. 2023 saw record revenues and strong profitability. A higher asset base (more purchase-leases and mortgages outstanding) led to increased revenue. A focus on portfolio quality also led to the divestment or refinancing of four different farms. While these are one-time events, they enabled us to redeploy underperforming capital. It is from a position of strength that we begin investing in our strategic growth during 2024.
Investing in Strategic Growth in 2024
Achieving our vision requires investment in several key organizational capabilities:
Business Development and Fundraising. Simply put, more capital is required to support more farmers and convert more acres to organic stewardship. We committed to ambitious fundraising goals requiring the support of new and existing investors. Those goals also require building our team and enhancing our systems to better serve investors.
Marketing and Communications. As we seek to expand our reach and build awareness around our impact, we will be investing in dedicated resources who will be responsible for developing effective communications and marketing strategies that convey Iroquois Valley’s mission and vision. We recently posted a position for a senior-level hire – read the job description here.
Farmland Investments. The goal is to deploy capital in the most impactful, efficient manner through our product offerings. In doing so, we will build a large, diverse portfolio of farmland and establish and maintain strong relationships with our farmers. We will continue to develop the team and investment process in order to serve hundreds of farmers and deploy significant amounts of capital for impact. Organic farmland continues to be a stable, financially rewarding long term investment in addition to the positive health, environmental, and rural economic impacts.
Finance and Operations. A robust corporate finance and administrative function enables all areas of the organization to operate effectively and better serve our farmers and investors. To that end, we have engaged FTI Consulting to provide independent third party fund accounting and investor administration services.
Impact. This is why we exist. During the strategic planning process, we articulated the strategic objective to compound our growth and impact by five times in five years across our stakeholder communities.
By making these investments to further build our organizational capabilities in 2024, we are creating a virtuous circle, a positive flywheel, where more capital yields more farmers and more organic acres which in turn creates healthy soil, healthy food and healthy communities. This is the essence of our vision. We look forward to reporting on our progress over the coming quarters.
Organizational Updates
In September 2023, Co-Founder Dr. Stephen Rivard stepped down as Board Chair and we welcomed Dr. Anna Jones-Crabtree as the next Chair of the Iroquois Valley Board of Directors. Dr. Rivard will remain on the Board where we can continue to benefit from his deep understanding of the connection between organic agriculture and human health. Dr. Jones-Crabtree, both a farmer and PhD, brings a systems approach to tackling the challenge of transforming agriculture in one generation.
We would like to congratulate Arnold Lau on his retirement from Iroquois Valley. Arnie retired at year-end after 10 years at the company where he was instrumental to the early growth of the organization. Arnie’s wit, humor and storytelling will be missed but we are fortunate to still have him as a board member. Thank you Arnie for your commitment to Iroquois Valley and its vision.
We would also like to thank Malaika Maphalala for her service as a board member. Malaika served on Iroquois Valley’s Board of Directors from October 2017 to December 2023. Her expertise and guidance was critical to our growth. The Board appointed Ingrid Dyott to succeed Malaika. Ingrid is a recognized thought leader in ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) investing and brings extensive experience to our Board.
During the last quarter, we welcomed Nicole Ferer to the team. Nicole joins us as Investor Relations Coordinator working on our Investor Relations team, with a background in environmental education, sustainable food systems and farming. We are now a small but mighty team of 12.
If you are an organic farmer (or a farmer wanting to transition to organic), don’t hesitate to reach out to see how we can help. If you are a prospective or existing investor, please contact our investor relations team. We can’t transform agriculture alone. It requires the support of our entire stakeholder community.
On behalf of the team at Iroquois Valley, I’d like to thank our farmers and investors for their commitment and support as we embark on an ambitious vision to transform agriculture.
Sincerely,
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