A rural investment fund formed last year through a U.S. Department of Agriculture program announced its first investment with an equity stake in an Iowa-based poultry producer, Iowa Cage-Free LLLP in Goldfield. The amount of the investment is proprietary and was not disclosed, the fund manager said. The fund manager, St. Louis-based Advantage Capital Agribusiness Partners LP, said Monday it had closed the $154.5 million agribusiness-focused fund late last year. Initially announced by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in April 2014, the program is operated as a Rural Business Investment Company and is funded by nine Farm Credit system investors. It focuses on businesses involved in the production, processing and supply of agricultural products. Under RBIC guidelines, the fund cannot invest more than 10 percent of the total fund value per equity investment. “Businesses in rural America face a shortage of investment capital and this fund attacks that problem by providing rural businesses with funding to grow and create new jobs in rural communities,” said Scott Murphy, chief investment officer at Advantage Capital Partners. For more information about the fund, click here.