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Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac) and farmland REITs offer very different kinds of agricultural exposure. Farmer Mac is a financing company that supports rural lending through a secondary market; farmland REITs own and lease agricultural property. If you want exposure to loan, credit and funding activity, Farmer Mac is the closer match. If you want a company whose assets and revenue are tied more directly to farmland and rents, a farmland REIT is the closer match. Neither is a direct claim on a particular farm, and neither is automatically the better investment.
At a glance
| Name | Best for | Key distinction | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac) | Investors seeking exposure to rural finance, loan activity and credit performance | Financing-company business; $33.4 billion in outstanding business volume at December 31, 2025 | November 2026 |
| Farmland Partners Inc. | Investors seeking ownership-and-lease exposure across a multi-state farm portfolio | Approximately 70,000 acres in 11 states at September 30, 2026 | November 2026 |
| Gladstone Land Corporation | Investors seeking farmland exposure with an emphasis on fresh produce and permanent crops | 98,065 acres across 14 states and 55,657 acre-feet of California water assets at September 30, 2026 | November 2026 |
Prices checked November 2026.
The figures above describe unlike things: Farmer Mac’s business volume is not a measure of land owned, market capitalization or investment value. Acreage and water assets are not comparable to a finance company’s loan-related business volume. These issuer-reported figures provide scale context, not a ranking of investment performance.
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What is the difference between Farmer Mac and a farmland REIT?
Farmer Mac is a stockholder-owned, federally chartered financing corporation; a farmland REIT is a real-estate company that owns and leases farms. Buying shares in either company gives you an interest in the company, not direct title to a loan, a farm or a particular field.
Farmer Mac’s role is to provide a secondary market for certain loans made to rural borrowers. Its business includes agricultural finance and infrastructure finance, so the company is not simply a proxy for the price of farmland. Its 2025 Form 10-K describes the secondary-market mission and the company’s business lines. Farmer Mac’s 2025 Form 10-K is the primary source for its structure and reported activity.
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A farmland REIT, by contrast, holds agricultural real estate and seeks income and potential appreciation through property ownership and leasing. Farmland Partners describes itself as an institutional acquirer, owner and manager of farmland, and says it has elected REIT tax treatment. Gladstone Land describes its core business as owning and leasing farmland, including some leases with variable-rent components. An investor in either owns shares in the REIT company—not a deeded slice of one of its farms.
The practical distinction is the source of exposure. Farmer Mac’s results are affected by financing activity, credit performance and its funding and capital choices. A farmland REIT’s results depend more directly on rents, tenants, property operations, land values and its own financing. The companies are linked to agriculture, but they are not interchangeable ways to invest in farmland.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallHow does Farmer Mac make money, and what does its stock represent?
Farmer Mac is a financial intermediary, not a farmland landlord. Its common stock represents an ownership interest in a company that facilitates rural lending; it does not give shareholders ownership of the farms or loans involved in that business.
Congress charged Farmer Mac with providing a secondary market for a variety of loans made to rural borrowers. A secondary market can help lenders manage or transfer loan exposure and support the availability of credit. The company’s filing describes its mission as providing liquidity to agricultural and rural infrastructure businesses. That is an issuer-stated purpose, not a guarantee of a particular outcome for borrowers or shareholders.
Farmer Mac’s business is broader than agricultural mortgage finance alone. Its 2025 filing reports both Agricultural Finance and Infrastructure Finance. During 2025, the company reported that business volume grew by $3.8 billion: $2.8 billion in Infrastructure Finance and $1.0 billion in Agricultural Finance. At December 31, 2025, outstanding business volume was $33.4 billion. These are measures of the company’s operating business—not the value of its stock, its market capitalization or the acreage of land it owns.
The stock structure also matters when identifying what you are buying. Farmer Mac lists Class A voting common stock (AGM.A) and Class C non-voting common stock (AGM) on the New York Stock Exchange. The two classes differ in voting rights; neither turns a shareholder into a direct lender or landowner. The company’s 2025 annual filing provides its own descriptions of its securities, businesses and risks.
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How do farmland REITs own and lease agricultural property?
A farmland REIT pools investor capital in a company that owns and manages farms, then earns revenue in large part from leasing that property. The land and leases create more direct real-estate exposure than Farmer Mac shares, but the shareholder still owns stock in the company rather than a specific farm.
Farmland Partners Inc. reported approximately 70,000 acres in 11 states as of September 30, 2026. By portfolio value, it reported a mix of about 60% primary-crop farmland and 40% specialty-crop farmland. Its stated strategic objective is to pursue risk-adjusted returns through cash dividends and asset appreciation; that is the company’s objective, not a promise of either dividends or appreciation. Its September 2026 Form 10-Q provides the dated portfolio figures, while its 2025 Form 10-K describes its stated strategy.
Gladstone Land reported 142 farms totaling 98,065 acres across 14 states as of September 30, 2026, along with 55,657 acre-feet of California water assets. The company says its portfolio focuses on fresh produce and permanent crops, with some commodity-crop exposure. Some leases have a variable-rent component. Those details can help an investor understand what kinds of farms and operating conditions may affect the portfolio; they do not predict future rent, water availability or investment returns. See Gladstone Land’s September 2026 Form 10-Q for the reported figures and risk disclosures.
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REITs are not all alike. Crop mix, geography, water access, lease structures, tenant concentration and debt can differ materially from one company to another. “Farmland REIT” identifies a broad business model, not a uniform portfolio or risk profile. Compare each issuer’s filings rather than treating one REIT’s acreage or crops as representative of the entire category.
What drives returns for each investment?
Farmer Mac’s returns are connected to the economics of financing, while farmland REIT returns are connected more directly to property income and value. In both cases, share-price performance also depends on valuation, financing conditions, company execution and market sentiment.
| Factor | Farmer Mac | Farmland REIT |
|---|---|---|
| Core exposure | Loan purchases or guarantees, financing, funding and credit performance | Farm ownership, leases, tenants, land values and property-level conditions |
| Potential business drivers | Financing margins, business volume, credit costs, funding costs and capital allocation | Rental income, property operations, asset values, financing costs and distributions |
| Concentration to review | Loan and guarantee mix, business lines, counterparties, credit quality and funding sources | Geography, crop mix, water access, tenants, lease terms and debt maturities |
| Key financial checks | Valuation, capital and liquidity, credit trends, business mix and dividend policy | Valuation, leverage, lease revenue, distribution coverage, property quality and tenant concentration |
Agriculture can influence both, but through different channels. A decline in farm profitability could weaken a borrower’s ability to repay a loan, affecting credit exposure at a financing company. It could also strain a tenant’s ability to pay rent, affecting a landowner’s cash flow. The exact impact depends on each company’s exposures, underwriting or lease terms, counterparties and available financial capacity.
Land values can matter more directly to a REIT’s asset base, but a change in reported property values does not automatically mean an equivalent change in the share price. Likewise, the volume of Farmer Mac’s business is not itself a measure of shareholder return. Evaluate financial statements, balance-sheet risks and market valuation—not a single operating metric in isolation.
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What risks should investors compare?
Farmer Mac concentrates more of its investment case in financing, credit and funding conditions; a farmland REIT concentrates more in property, leases and tenants. Both remain public companies exposed to capital markets and company-specific risks, and neither category is risk-free because it is connected to agriculture.
Farmer Mac: credit, funding and business mix
Review loan and guarantee performance, delinquency and asset-quality trends, funding sources, interest-rate sensitivity and the relationship between business growth and capital needs. Farmer Mac’s 2025 filing reports growth in both Agricultural Finance and Infrastructure Finance and discusses delinquency and asset-quality measures. Because those annual figures are dated, an investor making a current decision should consult the latest quarterly disclosures for updated credit data rather than assuming the 2025 picture still applies.
The infrastructure-finance business is also a reminder that Farmer Mac’s results need not move in step with farmland values or farm rents. A portfolio thesis based on “agriculture” alone can miss differences among the company’s business lines and their counterparties.
Farmland REITs: tenants, crops, water and property costs
A REIT’s land does not eliminate the risk that tenants struggle, rents are not collected, property expenses rise, refinancing becomes difficult or land values fall. Farmland Partners warns that tenant farm profitability matters to rent collection, cash flow and its ability to make distributions; a sustained downturn could harm those outcomes. Its reported 60/40 split between primary and specialty crops by portfolio value and its multi-state holdings are relevant context, not a guarantee that crop or regional risks are diversified away.
Tenant concentration deserves particular attention. Gladstone Land reported that two tenants accounted for 17.1% and 10.0% of lease revenue, respectively, for the nine months ended September 30, 2026. Those figures identify exposure to examine; they are not evidence that either tenant will default or that future revenue will decline. Crop specialization, water availability, lease duration and tenant credit are additional property-level considerations. The company’s reported California water assets are relevant to its portfolio description, but they should not be mistaken for a guarantee against water-related risk.
Both types of company can be affected by capital-market conditions. A REIT can face refinancing risk or reduce distributions; Farmer Mac can face funding and credit pressures. Share prices may decline even when a company continues to own assets or operate its business. A federal charter should not be read as a U.S. government guarantee of Farmer Mac common stock or debt.
How should you compare valuation, income and liquidity?
Compare each security on current company data and market prices; the business figures alone do not establish which is cheaper, offers a higher yield or has better prospective returns. The cited filings do not provide a contemporaneous, directly comparable valuation or yield comparison, so a universal winner cannot be supported from them.
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For valuation, use measures appropriate to the business model and review them alongside the balance sheet and earnings or cash-flow drivers. A financing company’s credit exposure and capital needs differ from a property company’s land assets, rents and debt. Comparing a REIT’s acreage with Farmer Mac’s business volume—or comparing a single valuation multiple without adjusting for business mix—does not resolve which stock is more attractive.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFor income, check the current dividend or distribution, its history, the issuer’s stated policy and the financial results available to support it. A headline yield can rise because a share price has fallen, which may signal risk rather than a bargain. For a REIT, also examine lease revenue, tenant health, debt and distribution coverage. For Farmer Mac, examine earnings drivers, credit quality, funding costs, capital and dividend policy. Past payouts and stated objectives do not guarantee future payments.
For liquidity, distinguish the ability to trade publicly listed shares from the liquidity of the underlying assets or loans. Farmer Mac’s common shares are listed on the NYSE, but that fact alone does not establish a particular trading spread or trading volume. Farmland Partners and Gladstone Land are public companies with SEC filings; review current market data and each security’s trading characteristics rather than assuming all listed shares are equally liquid.
For capital structure, compare debt, maturities, refinancing needs and other obligations against the assets and cash flows that support them. For concentration, inspect Farmer Mac’s business lines, counterparties and credit exposures; for REITs, inspect location, crop and tenant mix, lease terms and water access. These checks are more informative than choosing the company with the largest acreage, business volume or current yield.
Which one may fit your portfolio?
Farmer Mac may fit an investor seeking exposure to a specialized rural-finance company, while a farmland REIT may fit someone seeking more direct exposure to agricultural property ownership and leasing. This is a way to frame the decision, not a personalized recommendation: suitability depends on valuation, risk tolerance, portfolio concentration, income needs and time horizon.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →- Consider Farmer Mac as the closer business-model match if you want to assess loan-related activity, credit quality, funding and a mix that includes infrastructure finance. Be comfortable analyzing a financial company rather than treating its shares as farmland ownership.
- Consider a farmland REIT as the closer match if you want a company with land, leases and property-level drivers in the center of its business. Be prepared to assess tenant strength, crop and geographic concentration, water and lease details, property costs and debt.
- Compare individual issuers, not just labels. Farmland Partners’ crop mix and multi-state portfolio differ from Gladstone Land’s reported focus on fresh produce and permanent crops. Farmer Mac’s agricultural and infrastructure businesses also make its exposure broader than a pure farmland-finance label suggests.
- Reconsider whether either is too concentrated. A portfolio already heavily exposed to financial companies, agriculture, real estate or a particular region may not benefit from adding more of the same risk.
A longer time horizon may make it easier to tolerate periods of share-price volatility, but it does not remove credit, tenant, refinancing, land-value or distribution risk. The relevant question is not simply “Which has more farmland?” but “Which company’s sources of return and risks do I want to own at today’s valuation?”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What are the tax and access considerations?
Tax treatment differs at the company level, and the investor-level result depends on current tax reporting and individual circumstances. Farmer Mac reports paying federal corporate income tax and being exempt from state and local corporate income tax. Farmland Partners has elected REIT tax treatment. Those company-level facts do not mean that a shareholder’s dividends or distributions will receive identical tax treatment.
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Before comparing after-tax income, review each issuer’s current tax documents and consider advice specific to your circumstances. Tax character can vary, and the cited information is not enough to calculate an individual investor’s after-tax return. Do not assume that a REIT distribution is taxed the same way as a dividend from Farmer Mac or that company tax status alone determines your personal result.
Farmer Mac’s common shares trade on the NYSE; Farmland Partners and Gladstone Land are public REITs with SEC filings. Access to publicly traded shares is generally through an investment account that supports the relevant security, but account availability and terms depend on the provider and jurisdiction. Access is not an endorsement, and no particular brokerage or fee is established by the company filings cited here.
What should you verify before investing?
The reported figures here have different reporting dates and purposes: Farmer Mac’s annual business figures are for the year ended December 31, 2025, while the cited REIT portfolio and concentration figures are through September 30, 2026. Before making a current comparison, check the newest filings and market data for each issuer.
- Confirm the security and share class. For Farmer Mac, distinguish its Class A voting shares (AGM.A) from Class C non-voting shares (AGM). Confirm the ticker and share class in your account before placing an order.
- Read the latest company filing. Look for updated credit and delinquency data, business-line trends, lease revenue, occupancy or tenant information, property composition, debt maturities and risk disclosures.
- Check current price and payout information. Calculate valuation and yield from current prices and current issuer disclosures, not from dated portfolio figures or a past distribution.
- Assess capital structure and concentration. Review the company’s financing needs and obligations, then identify the most important business-line, borrower, tenant, crop, geographic and water exposures.
- Consider the whole portfolio and tax situation. Decide whether the investment adds a desired exposure or amplifies a risk you already hold, and compare likely after-tax income using current tax materials.
These checks cannot remove uncertainty. They make the comparison more useful by matching each company’s risks and potential return drivers to the investor’s own priorities, rather than relying on the shared word “agriculture.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Farmer Mac have a federal guarantee?
Its federal charter does not mean the U.S. government guarantees Farmer Mac common stock or debt. Treat the shares as an investment in a company with company-specific credit, funding and market risks, and use the legal language in its filings rather than inferring a guarantee from its charter.
Are farmland REITs a direct way to own a specific farm?
No. A share represents an interest in the REIT company, whose portfolio may include many properties; it does not convey a deed or a right to select a particular field. A shareholder’s exposure is therefore pooled through the company’s assets, leases and obligations.
Does farmland investment always rise when food prices rise?
Not necessarily. The issuers’ disclosed business models show several intervening factors, including tenant profitability, lease terms, crop mix, financing costs and company valuation. Food-price changes alone are not enough to predict either a REIT’s results or Farmer Mac’s share performance.
Can I compare Farmer Mac’s business volume with a REIT’s acreage?
No. Business volume is an operating measure for a financing company, while acreage describes property held by a landowner. Neither measure directly tells you a security’s market value, valuation or likely return.
