Thank you for Subscribing to Agri Business Review Weekly Brief
Clear Frontier Ag Management has been recognized by Agri Business Review Magazine as the exclusive recipient of “Top Farmland Investments Service 2025,” based on our proprietary methodology, reflecting its position in the industry, and is also named among “Top Agriculture Financing Providers,” reflecting its broader leadership. This profile has been developed by the Agri Business Review research and editorial team based on insights from an interview with Kaleb Kindler, Finance Controller, Justin Bruch, Founder & CEO, Charles Newton, Partner, Frank Ausin, Investment Director, Adele Durfey, Sustainability Director, Melanie Aust, Analyst.
Clear Frontier Ag Management
Pioneering the Path to Organic Farmland Success
Clear Frontier Ag Management, founded in 2019 and based in Omaha, NE, is a specialist farmland investment manager that focuses on fostering and enabling the transition to USDA Certified Organic in the U.S. row crop sector.
Founder and CEO Justin Bruch, who transitioned their family farm in 2015, saw the benefits of the switch to organic production and decided that creating a structure to tackle the barriers to transition would allow more farmers to follow the same path.
He states, “The key barriers are access to knowledge related to the transition process and capital that is aligned to the three-year transition period. Therefore, Clear Frontier seeks to enable farmers to transition to Certified Organic with Clear Frontier as the landlord partner, giving longer-term leases with a payment structure that better aligns with the farmer’s cash flow through the transition period.”
Clear Frontier closed its first 10-year fund in 2023 and has over 25k acres under management across many of the core irrigated row crop regions.
Charles Newton, partner at Clear Frontier, comments, “Our funds aim to generate the dual benefit of greater financial returns to investors in conjunction with better sustainability and impact outcomes compared to typical conventional farmland funds.”
The organic price premium primarily drives the greater returns. The U.S. is a net importer of organic corn and soybeans and sees robust demand. Given the barriers to entry for new supply, these organic crops trade a significant premium to conventional corn and soybeans. This translates to higher farmer profitability and, in turn, farmland rents. Clear Frontier seeks to assist in developing the “organic ecosystem” through facilitating knowledge sharing, off-take market development, technology testing and access to capital.
Clear Frontier also partners with many emerging technologies to enable improved data capture and analysis to understand better the impacts, particularly concerning Soil Health and Carbon interactions.
Adele Durfey, director of sustainability, comments, “There have been significant improvements in the accuracy and cost of measurement, but there is still significant room for alignment between technologies, and this should, in turn, drive higher participation in the emerging soil carbon markets.”
After initial hype and many false starts, there is a growing consensus that soil health, farm profitability and climate resilience are intrinsically linked, and there is a significant opportunity to address all three.
Farmers in the U.S. are facing significant challenges with low commodity prices, high input costs, and high interest rates. Undertaking the transition to Organic takes a substantial long-term commitment. Many cases will require a whole farm to transition, given the specialist nature of farm machinery and management processes, and given that the USDA Organic standards do not allow the use of typical fertilizers and chemicals. Partners like Clear Frontier can significantly improve the chances for success in the transition, increasing the resilience of our rural communities and improving human and planetary health.
Founder and CEO Justin Bruch, who transitioned their family farm in 2015, saw the benefits of the switch to organic production and decided that creating a structure to tackle the barriers to transition would allow more farmers to follow the same path.
He states, “The key barriers are access to knowledge related to the transition process and capital that is aligned to the three-year transition period. Therefore, Clear Frontier seeks to enable farmers to transition to Certified Organic with Clear Frontier as the landlord partner, giving longer-term leases with a payment structure that better aligns with the farmer’s cash flow through the transition period.”
Clear Frontier closed its first 10-year fund in 2023 and has over 25k acres under management across many of the core irrigated row crop regions.
Charles Newton, partner at Clear Frontier, comments, “Our funds aim to generate the dual benefit of greater financial returns to investors in conjunction with better sustainability and impact outcomes compared to typical conventional farmland funds.”
The organic price premium primarily drives the greater returns. The U.S. is a net importer of organic corn and soybeans and sees robust demand. Given the barriers to entry for new supply, these organic crops trade a significant premium to conventional corn and soybeans. This translates to higher farmer profitability and, in turn, farmland rents. Clear Frontier seeks to assist in developing the “organic ecosystem” through facilitating knowledge sharing, off-take market development, technology testing and access to capital.
-
Clear Frontier seeks to enable farmers to transition to Certified Organic with Clear Frontier as the landlord partner, giving longer-term leases with a payment structure that better aligns with the farmer’s cash flow through the transition period.
Clear Frontier also partners with many emerging technologies to enable improved data capture and analysis to understand better the impacts, particularly concerning Soil Health and Carbon interactions.
Adele Durfey, director of sustainability, comments, “There have been significant improvements in the accuracy and cost of measurement, but there is still significant room for alignment between technologies, and this should, in turn, drive higher participation in the emerging soil carbon markets.”
After initial hype and many false starts, there is a growing consensus that soil health, farm profitability and climate resilience are intrinsically linked, and there is a significant opportunity to address all three.
Farmers in the U.S. are facing significant challenges with low commodity prices, high input costs, and high interest rates. Undertaking the transition to Organic takes a substantial long-term commitment. Many cases will require a whole farm to transition, given the specialist nature of farm machinery and management processes, and given that the USDA Organic standards do not allow the use of typical fertilizers and chemicals. Partners like Clear Frontier can significantly improve the chances for success in the transition, increasing the resilience of our rural communities and improving human and planetary health.
The New Economics of Organic Farmland Management
Volatility in commodity markets has changed the way farmland investment groups evaluate long-term agricultural value. Conventional row crop production still dominates much of the U.S. market, though pressure from input inflation, soil degradation and tightening farm margins has exposed weaknesses in production systems built around narrow profitability windows. Institutional investors entering agriculture now face a more complicated question than simple acreage acquisition. They must determine whether farmland assets can maintain productivity, tenant stability and environmental performance during prolonged periods of financial stress.
That challenge has pushed organic transition strategies into a more serious investment discussion. Organic row crop production carries a meaningful pricing premium in domestic grain markets, particularly in corn and soybean sectors where U.S. supply remains constrained. Demand has continued to outpace production because the transition process is expensive, technically demanding and financially risky for growers. The three-year conversion period required for USDA Certified Organic status often produces lower short-term returns before premium pricing becomes available. Many producers lack the balance sheet flexibility or technical guidance required to absorb that transition period independently.
Farmland investment managers operating in this segment are increasingly judged by their ability to structure financing models around agricultural timelines rather than traditional investment cycles. Lease structures, working capital access and transition support now carry greater weight than acreage expansion alone. Investors also expect deeper visibility into tenant retention, long-term soil productivity and exposure to climate-related disruption. Groups unable to align capital planning with farm-level realities risk elevated turnover and inconsistent land performance.
Data credibility has become another dividing line in farmland management. Soil health metrics, carbon accounting and regenerative agriculture claims are under greater scrutiny from institutional capital providers and downstream supply chain partners. Estimation models built on broad assumptions no longer satisfy investors looking for measurable environmental outcomes tied to financial performance. Firms involved in organic transition increasingly need reliable measurement systems capable of tracking soil carbon movement, biological activity and land productivity over extended periods. Technology adoption has accelerated across this market, though fragmentation between data platforms and verification approaches continues to limit consistency.
Farm profitability remains central to every sustainability discussion despite growing interest in environmental reporting. Producers facing elevated borrowing costs and uncertain crop pricing cannot absorb transition risk without a realistic path toward improved margins. That economic reality has increased demand for farmland partners capable of supporting operational changes over multiple seasons instead of prioritizing near-term lease maximization. Investment managers that understand agronomic transition timelines, specialized equipment requirements and organic compliance constraints are better positioned to maintain productive tenant relationships while protecting land value appreciation.
Within this market, Clear Frontier Ag Management has established a focused position around organic farmland transition management. Founded to address the financing and knowledge barriers associated with USDA organic conversion, it structures long-term lease arrangements intended to align tenant cash flow with the realities of the transition period. Its approach combines farmland investment management with ecosystem development across organic production, market access and emerging agricultural technologies tied to soil health and carbon measurement. The firm’s concentration on irrigated row crop regions, organic transition support and sustainability-linked land management makes it a strong choice for investment groups evaluating long-term participation in organic agriculture markets.
...Read more
Company
Clear Frontier Ag Management
Management
Kaleb Kindler, Finance Controller, Justin Bruch, Founder & CEO, Charles Newton, Partner, Frank Ausin, Investment Director, Adele Durfey, Sustainability Director, Melanie Aust, Analyst
Description
Clear Frontier Ag Management founded in 2019 in Omaha, NE, partners with farmers to transition U.S. row crop farmland to USDA Certified Organic. Through aligned capital, long-term leases, and sustainability initiatives, it delivers strong financial returns while fostering resilience and soil health.
