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 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.
“Farming can be profitable; it’s just volatile. We are here to change the risk profile. We spread it far and wide,” Mr McPhee said.
“We’re sharing the highs and lows of farming and creating a financial and emotional investment.”
He spoke at Hort Connections 2024 in Melbourne in June, saying the horticulture sector was one of the business’s most significant.
“In horticulture we have invested into huge volumes of melons, pineapples, avocados, apples, wine grapes; you name it,” he said.
“Normally the only way people can invest in farming is to buy a farm.
“We see this with corporate farms that often leave family farms behind; they buy the farm, they aggregate the neighbours, they look to improve it then hopefully sell that in the future.”
Mr McPhee said due to agriculture being incredibly diverse, that investment risk was managed.
“We are going to win more often than we lose,” he said.
