Scythe & Spade Company

Scythe & Spade sources transactions through its network of regional experts who maintain direct relationships with farm operators, landowners, and local intermediaries in every major U.S. growing region. Once a property is identified, the firm structures the deal to place equity capital with the operator while creating a land-anchored investment for the capital provider. Underwriting relies on the proprietary FarmBase™ system, which layers GIS mapping, soil data, water-rights analysis, and local market intelligence into a single due-diligence framework.

The firm does not publicly disclose traditional closed-end or open-end commingled fund vehicles. Its service model — spanning acquisition due diligence, ongoing asset management, and eventual disposition — points toward a deal-by-deal or separate-account structure, where each farmland investment is underwritten, capitalized, and managed on its own merits. This architecture allows investors to underwrite the specific asset, operator, and water profile rather than buy into a pooled portfolio.

FarmBase™ is the firm's proprietary analytics engine, combining GIS and GPS data with internal agronomic models to evaluate soil class, yield history, water availability, title encumbrances, and infrastructure quality. It transforms raw land data into financial projections that feed the acquisition, management, and disposition decisions. By integrating spatial analysis with boots-on-the-ground verification, the platform aims to reduce the information asymmetry that typically disadvantages non-farming investors in agricultural real estate.

Scythe & Spade states it has eyes and ears on the ground in every major U.S. growing region. Case studies and market commentary point to transaction activity in the Pacific Northwest — including Idaho and the Snake River Basin — as well as the Midwest Corn Belt and specialty-crop areas in California. The firm's emphasis on water-rights analysis underscores the importance of Western irrigated acreage in its deal mix.

Scythe & Spade earns revenue from acquisition-phase due-diligence fees, ongoing agricultural asset-management contracts, and disposition fees when a property is sold. Because its economics are tied to the transaction and the long-term management of the land — rather than to raising and deploying a fund within a set period — the firm's incentive is to maximize the productive value and ultimate sale price of each asset, aligning it closely with the investor's total return.