What do a media and entertainment icon, an Oklahoma billionaire, a future president, two people who helped lead their country’s monetary policy, and a star football player who almost died after getting hit on the football field have in common?
They all agreed with Steve Bruere’s sales pitch.
Media and entertainment icon: Martha Stewart
Oklahoma billionaire: T. Boone Pickens
Future president: Donald J. Trump
Monetary policy leaders: Esther George and Thomas Hoenig, former President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
National Football League star: Drew Bledsoe, former quarterback for the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys
“It’s a work in progress every year,” Bruere told American Farmland Owner from his office in Clive, Iowa.
Bruere is President of Peoples Company, an agricultural real estate company licensed in 31 states.
RELATED: Steve Bruere leads the development and construction of Iowa’s first agrihood. See the designs for Middlebrook, the development that mixes housing, retail, farming, and music in a combination unlike anything that exists in the region.
But it was Bruere’s decision more than 15 years ago that would eventually connect him with well-known personalities from a variety of industries. In 2008, Bruere launched the Land Investment Expo.
He wanted an event that features thought-provoking – and sometimes controversial – speeches and conversations about agriculture, finance, law, policy, and politics.
“Every year you try to go get a big name,” Bruere said of his yearly pursuit. “You try to get those folks as early as you can, and sometimes that works out well…and sometimes it's a last-minute addition.”
“…you're just kind of living in the moment, trying to figure out what’s the hot topic,” Bruere explained.
Other headliners for the Land Expo have included:
Erin Fitzgerald: CEO of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers in Action
Kevin O’Leary: business executive and “Shark Tank” host
Jon Meacham: presidential historian
Sam Zell: billionaire investor and business executive
“One of my mentors told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group. There is much less competition,” Bruere told the Des Moines Business Record in 2008 in a profile piece on his early business career at Peoples Company.
RELATED: Learn about Steve Bruere’s transition from college graduate on a Saturday to a full-time gig in real estate two days later in this article from the Des Moines Business Record in 2008.
The agricultural real estate and investment marketplace has been challenged by higher interest rates, inflationary pressures, workforce shortages, immigration policy disputes, and severe weather.
Many of those topics could be addressed in keynote speeches, breakout sessions, or sidebar conversations during the 2025 Land Investment Expo in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 14th.
Among the guests who have already been publicly announced for the upcoming expo include:
Joe Lonsdale: Founder and Managing Partner at 8VC, an early-stage venture capital firm
J. Kyle Bass: Co-Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Conservation Equity Management, an environmental sustainability private equity firm
Richard Vague: author and economic futurist
RELATED: Richard Vague believes that some debt is more beneficial than others. He explains what drives this thinking in this conversation with American Farmland Owner.
Bruere sees the annual gathering as a chance to interact with thought leaders from across the world. Some of them can make him sweat, like the time Trump headlined the event in 2015.
“Went through a pretty long effort in order to get that firmed up,” Bruere said about the discussions with Trump’s team.
“And you know, up until the moment he walked on stage you weren't quite sure if that was going to hold up or not. And so, you get a little nervous when you're booking some of these big names.”
Bruere can’t yet say whether 2025’s event could feature another big name. But for the 1,600 people who gather in person or online to watch, he promises that the expo will make them think.
“What I would say is that there's a lot of people that are misunderstood on all issues, right? You try to bring people together and talk about issues in a way that you can see both points of view,” Bruere said.
“Foundationally, I come at everything from an agricultural perspective. But that challenging of perspectives and having pragmatic conversations, I think, is what people enjoy.”
Note: American Farmland Owner is a media sponsor of the 2025 Land Investment Expo. You can register, find the full list of scheduled speakers, and learn more about the event here.
