Land Investment Expo 2025

For the last 4 years, Promised Land OZ has joined the Land Investment Expo presented by Peoples Company. Peoples has built up the Land Investment Expo in attendance and speakers over the last 18 years. This year saw 1,400 in-person attendees and another 800 joining virtually! The Expo brings together investors, landowners, and agricultural experts for a full day packed with headline speakers, breakout sessions, and exhibit booths. Not a single minute is wasted. 

Of note, keynote speaker and venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale was quite positive and excited about the change in leadership in the U.S. He suggested that the media and populus wouldn’t be able to keep up with the speed of change in the White House over the first 100 days of Trump being in office.  He was not kidding. One legislative item important to Trump 1.0 was the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which is set to expire end of 2025.  Many Washington insiders are anticipating legislative action soon to renew these sunsetting 2017 tax benefits, including OZ legislation.  In fact, the Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) issued a press release on February 3, 2025, urging quick extension of the Trump 2017 tax cuts (which included Opportunity Zone legislation) to help America’s poorest communities:  “If we permanently extend the Trump tax cuts, we will breathe new life and prosperity into all kinds of communities – including rural America

Next up Founder and CEO of Conservation Equity Management, Kyle Bass, spoke about the impact of inflation. He brought up a graph of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet, at $9 trillion, mentioning that the Federal government has spent 40% more than the tax revenues it has received. This government largesse is driving inflation up. Bass further discussed the chain-weighted dollar methodology the Feds use for measuring inflation, which, in his view, massages reported inflation lower than what is really felt by consumers. 

Kyle was followed by breakout sessions covering a variety of topics. We chose to attend "Connecting Farmers with Capital. Farmland Investments for the Wealth Management Industry". Speakers were Craig Lemoine, PhD, Director of Financial Planning at the University of Illinois, Jonathan Shively - Director of Capital Partnerships at Peoples Company, and Damian Howard SVP of Investment Services at Security National Bank. Security National had an interesting regulatory twist on making farmland investing available to non-accredited investors while also not being a crowd-funded platform. The Q & A session got a little spicy with differing views between Damian and audience members on cash flow management and farmers’ penchant for leasing additional acreage.  

Breakout sessions were followed by lunch and another keynote speaker, Steve Eiseman, managing director at Neuberger Berman. His investment focus areas are Infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence, and Financials with a geographic location in the US and a desire for a "good story". He gave an interesting take on crypto, although it has a "good story" he will never be interested in it as he’d rather collect old comic books. Eiseman made his name on Wall Street by shorting the residential mortgage market in 2008-09.

Next up was Richard Vague, an author and economic futurist, who discussed "Tariffs and our 250 years of Internal Battles". His take on mitigating trade imbalances was not tariffs, but rather through innovation. He stressed the importance of strong investments in Agricultural research to achieve breakthroughs that will keep U.S. farmland and its agricultural industry the envies of the world. 

Another round of breakout sessions took place, with Promise Land's very own Fund Manager, John Heneghan taking the stage with Peoples Company farm manager, Jim Goss. Both used the session to highlight how investing capital in rural opportunity zones can reap benefits not only to accredited investors through land appreciation and tax benefits but also to the community and businesses in the area through job creation and increased productivity and income to farmer tenants.  An investment teaser on Promise Land Fund II was included with hopes of raising funds for a farm under contract in Douglas County, IL. 

Afternoon breakout sessions were followed by a main speaker, Marc Brinkmeyer, chairman of Idaho Forest Group who spoke about the convergence of innovation and sustainability. Something you could tell Marc was especially passionate about. He gave us a peek at his steam engine saw mills collection which exists to meticulously preserve the history of innovation but also provide education on Idaho Forest Group’s humble beginnings.

Dave Muth, director of capital markets at Peoples Company, discussed "Farmland investing for tomorrow: Not your parents asset class". There's a high percentage of farmland owned by aging farmers and he expects about 70% of farmland will change generational hands over the next 20 years.  A staggering amount of acreage! 

Last but certainly not least was venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale.  Joe really stressed the importance of having the best and brightest technologists and industry practitioners in the right roles to create innovation and sustainable competitive advantages in any industry. He had a strong viewpoint that regulators tend to slow innovation down and get in the way of progress. He was quite positive and excited about the change in leadership in the U.S. He suggested that the media and populus wouldn’t be able to keep up with the speed of change in the White House over the first 100 days of Trump being in office. 

He was not kidding. One legislative item important to Trump 1.0 was the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which is set to expire end of 2025.  Many Washington insiders are anticipating legislative action soon to renew these sunsetting 2017 tax benefits, including OZ legislation.  In fact, the Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) issued a press release on February 3, 2025, urging quick extension of the Trump 2017 tax cuts (which included Opportunity Zone legislation) to help America’s poorest communities:  “If we permanently extend the Trump tax cuts, we will breathe new life and prosperity into all kinds of communities – including rural America.”

Just barely over a week after the Investment Expo Promise Land was able to close on Promised Land Opportunity Zone Fund II with an anchor investor that we initially met at our breakout session! The Land Investment Expo was certainly a trip that reaped multiple benefits both educationally and professionally.

Stay tuned for information on Promise Land Opportunity Zone Fund III.