Winegrape vineyards are out - literally - and broadacre cereal crops are now going in as winter sowing cranks up on 1800 hectares in southern NSW, funded by Qantas pilots, cabin crew and ground staff.
The $9 billion Qantas Super fund has committed $200 million to a land redevelopment and farming program which includes Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area farms which were growing vines until six months ago.
Already about $150m has been spent "repurposing" what were three large vineyards owned by corporate and family partnerships near Griffith.
By next year big areas will also be planted to irrigated almond and citrus trees by large scale investor and farmland refurbishment business, GoFARM.
Further south, the superannuation fund's money has paid for similar permanent horticultural plantings on the 6500ha Sandmount Farms aggregation of former dairy farms between Shepparton and Cobram.
The irrigated land now grows broadacre tomatoes, corn, winter cereals, pulses and canola, plus 70ha of mandarins and 445ha of almonds.
In fact, the upscaled northern Victorian farming operation has rapidly become Australia's biggest field tomato producer, supplying the Kagome Foods canning and puree processing plant in Echuca.
GoFARM, which has eight property aggregations across southern NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, is also already one of Australia's biggest almond producers.
Managing director, Liam Lenaghan, believed other domestic superannuation funds could, and probably would, follow the national airline's superannuation fund lead in connecting with GoFARM.
Australian investors had generally started showing greater interest in being part of the agricultural picture.
"They don't necessarily want to own farms or be farmers, but institutional investors are realising they can generate returns and prudent long term growth by putting money into agricultural projects like ours," he said.
In general, institutional investors are starting to view agriculture as part of the solution, not part of a problem
- Liam Lenaghan, GoFARM
Investing in farmland was a good inflation hedge and a good diversification strategy, also offering opportunities in carbon sequestration and renewable energy - all of which appealed to super funds.
"We're unlocking economic benefits in regional communities, creating jobs, and we're all about land stewardship and efficient water resource use," Mr Leneghan said.
"It fits well with what superannuation fund members like to see.
"In general, institutional investors are starting to view agriculture as part of the solution, not part of a problem."
Conveniently, Australia was close to growing markets, with 3 billion consumers about to enter the global middle class by 2050.
"Our dollar is at decade lows, and given the unprecedented interest in climate-smart investment opportunities and demand for high quality agri-products, there's never been a better time to invest in Australian agriculture," he said.
Farmland had delivered a respectable 20-year compound annual growth rate of 8.5pc, while water entitlements over 15 years had a CAGR of 6.7pc.
Qantas Super chief investment officer, Andrew Spence, also felt there was immense potential in agriculture, and for investors.
His super fund sought out investment opportunities which delivered strong financial returns to members while aligning with sustainability and responsible ownership values.
Partnering with GoFARM's farm sector expertise provided a platform that could optimise superannuation returns and "generational impacts for agricultural and regional communities".
"This investment aligns with these objectives, providing access to high quality investing opportunities offering strong long-term returns," he said.
GoFARM, founded by Mr Lenaghan a decade ago with 50pc backing from the Melbourne family investment group, Costa Asset Management, has $1.1 billion in farmland assets covering 80,000ha, and more than 200 staff.
It spent $100m on the Sandmount and Riverina farms before Qantas signed up to help.
A key factor in the company's farm transformation and capital growth strategy was getting more productive returns from irrigation water, of which it has extraction licences covering about 94,000 megalitres a year.
While winegrape earnings had slumped in the past four years because of global oversupply and China's tariff barriers against Australian exports, Mr Lenaghan said the recently purchased MIA vineyards came with valuable water rights and water infrastructure.
The farms were well suited for repurposing to grow more valuable permanent horticultural crops.
Similarly, moving the Goulburn Valley properties into the specialty field tomato sector involved plenty of new risks and high inputs, too, "but the output results are also high if you get it right".
"Australian agriculture can drive higher returns with investments in productivity via transformational practice changes, agtech, and data analysis," he said.
"With fresh capital, agri-expertise, water and technology we are transforming underutilised farmland into higher value and water efficient production and unlocking the full potential of our assets."