Rural Opportunity Zone Farmland Fund
During the second quarter, Sower launched its Rural Opportunity Zone Farmland Fund, a new investment vehicle designed to combine the long-term stability of farmland ownership with the enhanced tax benefits available through recently expanded Opportunity Zone legislation.
The launch follows significant changes to the Opportunity Zone program enacted through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025, which made Opportunity Zones permanent and introduced the Qualified Rural Opportunity Fund structure. Among the most notable enhancements is a 30% basis step-up available for qualifying rural investments, creating a unique opportunity for investors seeking to redeploy capital gains into long-duration real assets while maintaining exposure to a tangible, income-producing investment.
While Opportunity Zone investing has historically been associated with multifamily, commercial, and development projects, we believe farmland offers a particularly compelling fit for the structure. Opportunity Zone incentives are designed to reward patient, long-term capital, and productive farmland, which naturally aligns with that investment horizon. Unlike many asset classes that rely heavily on future development or market timing, farmland generates value through a combination of annual income, land appreciation, and disciplined stewardship over time.
Farmland also offers characteristics that many investors find attractive during periods of economic uncertainty. Productive agricultural land remains a finite resource supported by durable demand for food, feed, and fiber. Historically, farmland has shown a low correlation with traditional equity markets while providing inflation protection through both land values and rental income. These characteristics can make farmland a valuable component of a diversified portfolio, particularly when paired with a long-term investment structure.
The Rural Opportunity Zone Farmland Fund builds on Sower’s existing farmland platform, which has grown into a diversified farmland investment business since its inception in 2019. Today, the Sower Farmland Fund oversees more than $100 million in assets under management, encompasses more than 14,000 acres across multiple geographies, and serves more than 500 limited partners. Through our existing farmland operations, we have developed a disciplined acquisition process focused on identifying high-quality agricultural assets with strong long-term fundamentals.
A key component of the platform’s success has been our partnership with Peoples Company, one of the nation’s leading farmland brokerage and land management firms. Through this relationship, Sower combines institutional-scale sourcing and underwriting capabilities with local market expertise, helping ensure each property is managed for long-term productivity, stewardship, and value creation. The partnership also provides access to a broad network of agricultural relationships spanning multiple states and farming regions nationwide.
This operating foundation allows us to approach farmland investing with a disciplined focus on risk management and capital preservation. Our strategy emphasizes productive row-crop farmland, conservative leverage, asset-level underwriting, and active management practices designed to support long-term performance through varying market environments. We believe this approach positions investors to benefit from both the underlying economics of farmland ownership and the enhanced tax advantages available through the Rural Opportunity Zone framework.
The launch of the Rural Opportunity Zone Farmland Fund represents another step in the continued evolution of Sower’s farmland platform. By combining a durable real asset with a tax-efficient investment structure, we believe the fund provides a compelling option for investors seeking long-term wealth preservation, income generation, and appreciation potential. We look forward to expanding the platform and identifying opportunities that create lasting value for our investors in the years ahead.
