A simplistic view but if the general world population is going to keep increasing they need to be fed. Dont have any specifics but i have resd a few articles in the last couple years showing global fiod demand is already starting to outstrip supply. Will this lead to great increases in agricultural profits or will 5here simply be more people who cant afford food. Interested in any thoughts and if anyone is involved in the agri business.
An investment in an agri business would definitely have a greater than 51-99% success. from a simplistic view of course ! Having the ability to grow your own food is paramount.
Farming is certainly going to be a good long term investment. Now i am not big on following the online financial guru's ,BUT the one that i do have time for is Jim Rogers and he is a firm believer in investing in farmland and the associated equipment companies. As the op suggested , the world population is only going to get bigger so we are going to need more food to feed them all. And in the worst case scenario where a MASSIVE population decline occurs through disease or natural disaster then investments are not going to matter then anyhow. So a win-win as i see it.
Some the companies mentioned in this 2012 prior thead really took off: SHV, CZZ, WCB, WBA, TFC to name some. Nuts, honey, dairy, and sandalwood. Check the charts. http://forums.silverstackers.com/topic-31594-agriculture.html
100% agree on this. Why do you think China is buying up as much of Australia's agricultural land and water rights as possible? They are not stupid, they know what's coming. There'll be two major areas: bulk, low-quality foodstuff for the vast masses of struggling poor,and niche high-quality agricultural products for the dwindling middle-class and the wealthy. Its the niche areas where smaller producers will have a chance. (Things like Manuka honey, minimal pesticide fruit & veg, hormone-free meats, quality cheeses, etc... you get the idea.) Remember also that ocean fish stocks are being depleted and there is talk of a complete collapse. And there is heavy metal contamination in large fish like salmon, and maybe even issues with radiation from miscellaneous disasters and dumping of waste. If low-cost fish farming can be made viable for things like salmon then that would be hugely profitable.
It's tricky, lots of current methods of farming ate inefficient in many respects whether you are talking about water, energy, methane production or size of land requirements. There are lots of people working on pretty radical alternatives and it's not really clear what the future holds for agriculture. It might be vertical farming or radical genetic engineering, advanced aquaculture or growing beef in a Petrie dish. If they start pricing in methane as part of a greenhouse gas tax then dairy and beef could become pretty uneconomical. Obviously that's all in the future, but if your looking for a long term investment to retire on or pass on to your kids then I'd be looking at the more technology focused ag companies like Monsanto or union carbide, assuming you don't have moral issues with those companies. Those are just exemplars though, there are lots of interesting companies in that space though. You might look into the agricultural A-REIT's listed on the ASX.
Thankyou for your thoughts, currently only into PM's at the moment and looking for areas to start learning about and possibly investing in for long term (retirement) so you given me a couple places to start It will be interesting to see how much bio-science will will play a part in future food supply, how drastic advances in science will change the way we grow/create food.
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exactly...have you seen any empty supermarkets? of course not..so there is no food shortage...food being thrown away on the daily basis.....
Im sure theres a lot of people say 50% (radom number) of africans who have never seen a fully stocked supermarkwt like we take for granted. Im talking generalized on a global level. Staple foods like grains and rice and vegies are sold globally on massive quantities.
Just make sure your investment decisions are based on facts and figures, not Old Wive's tales or Green propaganda.
For sure, i wont be putting my money into shares for awhile yet, still just dipping my toe in the water for information at the moment. Still have a lot to learn.
