Scottish Grain Farming Group Unveils Floatation Plans

Scottish grain farming group, Greenshields Agri, has announced plans to raise £3 million through an initial public offering which would make it the only public company giving investors access to UK farmland ownership.

The group, founded in 2010, produces wheat, barley and oilseed rape on over 2,850 acres in Scotland’s ‘northern grain belt’ which stretches up the east coast of the UK from the Humber estuary in England to the river Tay in Scotland, and offers some of the highest wheat yields in the world because of its fertile soils and longer summer daylight hours. In 2014 the group produced an average of 9.1 tons of wheat per hectare, compared to the UK average of 8.6 tons per hectare.

The funds from the float will be used to increase the group’s portfolio. Greenshields has stated that rising farmland values are a key driver behind the group’s expansion goals. Over the past decade UK farmland has shown a cumulative growth of 277%, and is expected to continue to grow between 6% and 8% over the next five years.

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