Category: News & Media

Restoring the Agricultural Richness of Pembroke

Written by Lacey Benz on June 26, 2021. Posted in News & Media.

Located one hour south of Chicago, the Pembroke Township in Illinois was once home to the largest Black farming community north of the Mason-Dixon line. Today, less than 50% of this land is owned by descendants of the farming families. Amber, in partnership with Black Oaks Center, Savanna Institute, Conservation Fund, Food Finance Institute, and Fresh Taste, was awarded a Conservation Collaboration Grant in 2020 to support this farming community with the financial and technical resources...

A Conversation with Chicory Wealth

Written by Lacey Benz on June 1, 2021. Posted in News & Media.

Chicory Wealth, one of the registered investment advisors in our financial advisor network, recently hosted Alex Mackay, our VP, Investor Relations, for a conversation about investment opportunities at Amber. We would highly recommend the webinar to anyone interested in a comprehensive overview of what we do. Alex walks through our Pitch Deck and shares stories about three of the farms in our portfolio.

Worried about inflation? Invest in organic farmland

Written by Lacey Benz on April 26, 2021. Posted in News & Media.

“Now is a very good time to invest in one of human civilization’s oldest and most reliable sources of wealth… farmland.” Justin Anderson, Yahoo Finance The rising fear of inflation is causing many investors to direct their money toward bonds or alternative asset classes instead of the stock market. Despite investors’ concerns, the Federal Reserve continues to hold rates steady, calling any inflation increases “transitory” amid the government stimulus. For investors...

Amber named to the IA 50 for the ninth year in a row

Written by Lacey Benz on February 25, 2021. Posted in News & Media.

Amber was named an Emeritus Manager by ImpactAssets in its annual IA 50. This year, ImpactAssets celebrates its tenth year curating its widely recognized list of impact investment fund managers. According to ImpactAssets, the IA 50 is an annual showcase of companies dedicated to making impact investments, offering a gateway into the world of impact investing for investors and their financial advisors. The IA 50 offers an easy way to identify experienced and emerging impact fund...

A partnership to support diverse, beginning farmers access more money

Written by Lacey Benz on January 23, 2021. Posted in News & Media.

A project funded in fall 2020, led by Food Finance Institute (FFI), is on a mission to lower the risk of beginning farm investments to make them more attractive to funders. The project is funded through a $387,000, three-year Beginning Farmer Rancher Development Program grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. FFI will work with funders, investors and beginning farmers to create and provide a financial technical assistance (TA) program that will provide beginning...

Innovative financing to help restore soil health

Written by Lacey Benz on November 10, 2020. Posted in News & Media.

Amber’s Soil Restoration Notes are an innovative conservation financing tool that provides investors a return and enables farmers to invest in the land. These notes specifically target support for soil health and the organic transition. This work was partially funded by a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Innovation Grant. Conservation Innovation Grants are three-year grants – ours was funded in 2016 and was completed in September 2019. Our final...

Our Public Benefit Report

Written by Lacey Benz on July 6, 2020. Posted in News & Media.

Amber is proud to release its first public benefit report. We incorporated our company as a public benefit corporation in 2016 to build into our structure our intent to create public benefit. We intend to create public benefit by enabling healthy food production, restoring soil, and improving water quality through the establishment of secure and sustainable farmland tenure. Read our public benefit report here. This report builds on our history of impact reports, which measure our...

Amber partners with the Organic Farming Research Foundation

Written by Lacey Benz on April 30, 2020. Posted in News & Media.

Amber is proud to partner with the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) by supporting their research to learn more about the challenges and research priorities of organic farmers and ranchers, as well as farmers and ranchers transitioning land to certified organic production. The project includes two national surveys—one for certified organic producers, and the other for producers transitioning to organic certification. The project includes two national surveys—one for certified...

Amber awarded a 2019 Conservation Innovation Grant

Written by Lacey Benz on January 3, 2020. Posted in News & Media.

Amber was awarded a $700,000 Conservation Innovation Grant from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS). Our project will focus on supporting our farmers beyond land tenure through operating capital and improving farm viability. The funding is provided through the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program, which is funding the future of agriculture and conservation through grants to organizations and universities that are developing the next generation of tools and...