What? Wasn't Jimmy Rogers a peanut farmer in Alabama as a kid? IF so, he should know better. IF not, he's got some flaws in his theories. More farmers? Draw people? Eh...land is finite. And price per acre is lofty. IF anything, there will be less farmers tilling more acres. But tilling is a misnomer. There's been a transition to tillless farming. No plows. Dump chemicals. In turn they eventually leech into the groundtable. He seems to have forgotten (or omitted), some of the other costs associated with farming. Diesel (which used to be cheaper than gasoline) is a pronounced element. Irrigation is a story in itself, requiring a formidible investment and a water source. It's virtually impossible for a non-farmer to POOF become a farmer overnight (if ever), You could rent land, but you still have to have equipment, then operate it. Jimmy seems to have forgotten (or omitted), some of the other costs associated with farming. Diesel (which used to be cheaper than gasoline) is a pronounced element. In 1975 a respectable yield for corn was 65 bushels per acre. Today, its 150 (and approaches 200 on good bottom land). Monsanto may work some magic mutuations, but to eek out more output in a given space would require larger ears not more stalks. Tech may be able to continually increase clockspeed, but "3 foot long ears of corn"???? So the MORE money in farming than banking is debatable. Anyone care to debate? Anybody that knows jackshit about farming?
In FL were I live, cattle, citrus, dairy, and sugar farmers are among the wealthiest and best connected politically in the state. Do the math, 5,000 to 10,000 acre ranch worth 3 - 6k per acre............ I know several who have private runways on their land, with personal planes that they take to their island home on the weekend to go fishing.
============== Catchy headline but its NOT really clear from that article that mr Soros is buying up floodplain farmland at all.Floodplain farmland is priced accordingly- low like the elevation.Lowland tend to be quite fertile so thats a plus for it . But it is crystal clear why they named that lowland ''floodplain'' Also with lots of upper MS river full of hydro electric power dams, flood control is only part of water level puzzle, So you have ''floodplain '' lowland living its name; and as a article linked to that one mentions''4 inches of rain in less than a week'' Normal for south east is 4 inches/+per month. A judge named Limbaugh ruled the Army Corps of engineers could blow the levee.Sounds like the judge figured peoples lives were worth more than keeping floodplain farmland dry........................Thanks for the real estate read.
my guess is that you are correct in that there is very little that can be squeezed out of plants going forward. genetic engineering will create its own problems (and there will be costs to deal with those problems). the bottom line: the food will cost MORE = more profit to the farmers.
I've been around farming and agriculture my entire life. Everything above is accurate: aerable ground becomes more scarce each year due to urban sprawl and erosion. There is less land today available for farming than ever in history, and more people on earth to feed. That long-term math doesn't work without serious shifts in wealth. Which is why all of the big farmers are getting bigger, spending their money on any land available while posers who think they are rich blow their money on lavish houses, autos and toys that lose value from day one.
I've read several articles about hedge funds buying up farm properties. They are in a strong growth bubble. Early too. I think the raid on Wheat and Corn was a bunch of garbage. If this long sell off in AGs is for real, than China is in much worse shape than it appears. I'm not buyin that yet.
Really, in the last 3 years US has planted more acres than we have since WW II and there is much more that can be made productive should the cost benefit and more importantly the federal govt make it so, as in, don't pay farmers to be unproductive. You can go all the way back to the Carter grain embargo to see how the Govt has caused imbalances and created new powers in agriculture that exist and we pay for today. Let the market work like it is in South America, I know former Iowa farmers working 50,000 acre tracts in Brazil that did not exist a decade ago. It is a big, bountiful world, nothing to get all excited and scared about.
Look for opportunity, not boogie men. Even America exporting obesity there is plenty of resourses, just not managed effectively and looted by corruption. That is an entirely different problem. Remember "We Are the World?" There was plenty of aid for starving Ethiopians but it was hijacked and looted at every turn. A simple shift in our consumption of protiens or even better logistical management and we are sitting on a surplus and we are still all fat and happy, even the poorest of Americans.