A new era for agricultural investment has begun thanks to an app allowing access to purchasing commodities from cattle to crops.
The brainchild of Victorian entrepreneur Nathan McPhee, the Invest Inya Farmer app which launched 14 months ago, allows investors to buy steers in Queensland, oysters in Tasmania or some pineapples on the New South Wales coast.
Mr McPhee said the platform made ag investment more accessible to a broader community by democratising the entry into the purchase of agricultural commodities as it spreads the risks associated with farming while simultaneously connecting with and educating consumers.
"We're sharing the highs and lows of farming and creating a financial and emotional investment," he said.
Mr McPhee said the platform's growth has been exponential.
The core of their business model is to offer geographical and sector diversity to their customers and communicate not only the nuts and bolts of farming, but the how and why behind decisions, he said.
"It means that we have farmers making short videos on fencing, regenerative farming, why they've chosen not to sell when expected, but to feed stock," he said.
"We've invested millions into agriculture and that just continues to grow. But we need to control the growth so we have a good spread across commodities and different region to be able to offer the best opportunities and managed risks to our investors."
On the flip side, he said, farmers who offered their stock or crops for sale had several opportunities; they spread the risk of volatile seasons and markets by sharing any losses they made with investors, but it also diversified their income.
"For example, if a farmer has 100 head, they could sell 50 on the platform and use the cash to invest in other area or commodity," Mr McPhee said.
With 50 farms across Australia offering their wares on the platform, he said the 10 producers in Queensland range from tropical fruit, goats, bees and beef.
"This is the beauty of what we do," he said.
"Like all cattle farmers at the moment, we're suffering with our cattle holdings, but we're probably looking to make up for it on some of our horticulture or tropical fruit."
However, investors are also at the mercy of the farmer's decisions - they still decide how and when to sell., Mr McPhee said.
But that's where the communication and education piece comes in as investors are kept in the loop through video communications and can describe the market conditions and the factors affecting sales such as weather and prices, he said.
The importance of balancing risk for both farmers and investors is mirrored by chairman of the Invest Inya Farmer board Brian Ruddle. A long term champion of agtech and investment through his role as an innovation and commercialisation professional with the Impact Investment Group, Mr Rundle said his interest was initially piqued because of the unique concept.
"We've had discussions with people overseas that are pretty well connected, in terms of like venture capital groups," he said.
"For them to say they've never seen something like it suggests it's pretty unique."
Mr Rundle said the initial stages focused on developing a legitimate investment platform and ensuring value for both producers and investors.
"For producers we needed to make sure it could be a source of capital as well as a marketing opportunity for those that have got brands, and it needed to add value from the investor side," he said.
"It's also been interesting to see the link back to people learning about production systems. Even for myself- I've learnt a few things about oyster farming I never knew!"
Excited about building growth on both sides of the system; Mr Rundle said they've proven themselves to investors and have found a lot of people are rekindling or even sparking a connection with farming. And the key is storytelling, a notion echoed by one of their farmers, who in turn has become an investor.
For 120 years the Underwood family have been running cattle on their St George property, Yarran Downs. They background around 1700 head of cattle across 8900 hectares and spearheaded by fourth generation grazier Benam Underwood, are trialling the Invest Inya Farmer system with 22 steers.
"I also like the concept because of the connection with the consumers. I think it's vital to businesses going forward. I also think there's a big piece around education that's really important," Mr Underwood said.
By selling livestock on the platform it's allowed him to access non-bank finance and diversify finance options.
"Although there is a profit share agreement, they only take a caveat over the livestock," Mr Underwood said.
"So it's not as though you're leveraging off your property or anything like that.
"Basically they buy the steers off me and pay for some of the running costs as well, and then when the animals are sold, it's a 50 50 split in the net profit (and) agistment can be incorporated into the initial purchase price.
"So if you have a 12 month trade, you add on $250 for agistment, and then the Invest Inya Farmer co-op gets that $250 plus the initial purchase price back. Whatever's net of that is split evenly."
For Mr Underwood, the main attraction is connecting with his investors through videos beyond how their cattle are tracking, such as being informed about types of grasses on Yarram Downs and why the Underwoods undertake certain management practises like rotational grazing.
Mr Underwood said he has also dabbled with the app and is currently waiting for some Tasmanian oysters to mature.
"It's been great and I'm glad that it's gaining momentum," he said.
In the meantime, Mr McPhee said he, Mr Rundle, and the rest of the Invest Inya Farmer business have their sights set overseas, seeing massive potential for growth into American and Asian markets and beyond.
"We demonstrated market fit, value adding and appeal to both farmers and investors," he said.
"The next thing for us is to work out is how we take what effectively is an Australian story and make it global? That's where I am focussed".
