Leading Impact Investment Firm Awards Equity to Organic Farmer Partners

Chicago, Ill.—January 15, 2026—Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT, PBC, a pioneering U.S. organic farmland investment company, announced its landmark Farmer Success Sharing Plan, an innovative program that grants REIT equity shares directly to longtime organic farmer partners. The program marks a historic milestone not only for Iroquois Valley, but for the farmland investment sector, by formally recognizing farmers as value-creating partners with a direct stake in land appreciation. 

“This new program reflects Iroquois Valley’s conviction that lasting success is built in partnership,” said Drew Blankenbaker, VP of Farmer Relations. “Without farmers and investors, none of our company’s success would be possible. As stewards of the organic farmland within Iroquois Valley’s portfolio, farmers play a central role in creating long-term value for the company and its shareholders.”

While Iroquois Valley investors benefit financially from the success of rising farmland values, organic farmers in the portfolio have historically not directly shared in the land appreciation, despite caring for and improving the land year after year. The Farmer Success Sharing Plan was created to change that paradigm by aligning farmer stewardship with Iroquois Valley’s land ownership. Board-approved equity awards are granted in years when the company generates sufficient profits to reward both investors and farmers, strengthening the portfolio while honoring the partners who make its success possible.

For the 2025 calendar year, Iroquois Valley is awarding equity grants to 18 farmers across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and West Virginia. These farmers collectively represent more than 170 years of partnership with Iroquois Valley and steward over 9,600 acres of organic farmland within the company’s portfolio. The total value of the equity awards is $200,000, including a one-time bonus for farmer partners who have leased land from Iroquois Valley for more than ten years. Through these awards, participating farmers now hold common stock in the Iroquois Valley REIT, becoming shareholders alongside the company’s investors.

To be eligible for the Farmer Success Sharing Plan, farmers must actively lease Iroquois Valley farmland for at least three years, obtain organic certification, remain in good financial standing with the company and demonstrate stewardship consistent with Iroquois Valley’s environmental and social impact goals. Equity awards are determined based on the annual revenue generated from each farmer’s leased farmland.

The establishment of the Farmer Success Sharing Plan marks a pivotal step in building Iroquois Valley as a farmland investment company that serves as a catalyst for an organic future. By recognizing land stewardship as a driver of long-term environmental, social and economic impact, and by supporting farmers in doing well while doing good, Iroquois Valley is helping to build an agricultural system that improves soil health and human health.