Ann: Business Update, page-8

"The challenge, as is the case with most ag investments, is to generate a return that justifies the capital value of the asset."
Exactly. Given that returns in agriculture are often difficult, or nigh impossible, to predict, the aim is to grow capital value.
That gives bank lenders periodic indigestion and heart palpitations in shareholders.
It also means that preferably the owners of farming enterprises should be either unlisted agribusinesses or private enterprises such as generations of one family, and gearing should be low - maximum 20% in normal circumstances to allow for the inevitable disasters.
Investors who judge agriculture companies on their intrinsic value are as likely to be disappointed as they are to be rewarded for their fundamental research. For once, the chartists are probably on the right track.