olivernoyes
14 years ago
On Friday March 4, 2011, 12:54 pm EST
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Federal officials are expecting a record year for U.S. agriculture exports.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says farm and food products are expected to reach a record $135.5 billion in fiscal year 2011, which ends in September.
Vilsack told The Associated Press that U.S. agriculture may have its best export year ever. Compared to fiscal 2010, export value is expected to grow 25 percent.
Vilsack spoke Friday in Tampa at the Commodity Classic, a large convention and trade show for the U.S. corn, soybean, wheat, and sorghum industries that draws some 4,500 farmers from around the nation.
LCrigger
16 years ago
The Future of Agribusiness Isn't Golden... And That's A Good Thing
By Brad Zigler
Just pointing out Brad Zigler's latest over at Hard Assets Investor. From the article (excerpt):
""Good as gold" is a phrase that's meant to assure the listener of an item's intrinsic worth. Lately, you wouldn't have used that idiom to describe agribusiness. No, you'd have to say that agribusiness is actually better than gold.
Agribusiness, represented by the Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF (NYSE Arca: MOO), has been outperforming the bullion-holding SPDR Gold Shares Trust (NYSE Arca: GLD) since late February. The Market Vectors portfolio tracks 44 global firms making up the DAXglobal Agribusiness Index. Index constituents include companies producing agricultural chemicals and farm equipment, livestock operations and biofuels manufacturers. The index roster is populated with large-capitalization issues such as Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT), Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) and Komatsu Ltd. (Pink Sheets: KMTUF) as well as smaller outfits including Maple Leaf Foods, Inc. (Pink Sheets: MLFNF) and The Andersons, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANDE).
Year-to-date, the agribusiness ETF has gained 10.3% compared with a barely perceptible 0.9% inching up in the gold trust's price."
The full article's available here: http://www.hardassetsinvestor.com/component/content/article/3/1548-a-good-thing-agribusiness-future-isnt-golden.html?Itemid=39
LCrigger
16 years ago
The MOOve Toward Commodity Stocks--by Brad Zigler
Just wanted to point out Brad Zigler's latest on MOO, "The MOOve Toward Commodity Stocks", from www.HardAssetsInvestor.com (excerpt):
"There's been tension building between commodity investors for some time now. One camp figures the futures market is the best place to trade, while the other advocates commodity stocks.
The equity players' position has been bolstered by recent buoyancy in stock prices as commodities have slowly simmered. The boiling point may well be nigh, though.
Wednesday, the Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF (NYSE Arca: MOO), an exchange-traded portfolio tracking the 44-member DAXglobal Agribusiness Index, scored its highest close since the retracement of last year's commodity tumble began. Ending the day at $30.73, the Market Vectors ETF punched through a critical resistance level that could lead to a run-up to the $40 level."
Rest of the article and charts available here: http://www.hardassetsinvestor.com/component/content/article/3/1521-the-moove-towards-commodity-stocks.html?Itemid=39
Pro-Life
16 years ago
World Facing ‘Enormous’ Food Challenge as Water Scarcity Looms
By Alex Morales
Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The world is facing an “enormous” challenge to feed a growing population because climate change is altering rainfall patterns and fresh water is becoming scarcer, the U.K. government’s top scientist said.
Governments need to boost spending on agricultural research and reconsider options such as genetically-modified foods, which have been historically rejected by consumers in Europe, John Beddington told the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
“We have at the global level a genuine issue of world food shortage,” Beddington told lawmakers. “Can you feed 9 billion people by 2050 in some form of equitable and sustainable way?”
A 60 percent rise in food prices from early 2007 until mid- 2008 caused riots in countries including Cameroon, Haiti and Egypt. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in June that as much as $20 billion a year was needed to invest in agriculture to tackle the issue.
The challenge is to grow more food, maybe 50 percent more in two decades “and doubling in four decades on less land because of urbanization, climate change and so on; with less water, and probably using less fertilizers and less pesticides” than before, Beddington said late yesterday. “It’s an enormous challenge.”
The problem for the U.K. is less pressing because the country is “relatively prosperous” and can buy food on the world market, the scientist said.
Genetically-Modified Crops
One challenge for European countries is to overcome aversion among consumers to genetically-modified, or GM, crops, he said. That aversion may be because when the technology was first used, its purpose was mainly to cut costs rather than solve “difficult problems” such as more frequent drought, saltier soils and declining rainfall, he said.
“GM is not the only answer but it may well be a part of an answer to a number of very difficult problems,” Beddington said. “If it can solve the problem, we need to be thinking about it.”
The scientist said the use of GM cotton in clothing is now “ubiquitous” and that GM foods are eaten in the U.S. and other nations outside Europe.
“I understand this is a behavioral response that something you put on your shoulders is a lot less of a concern than something you put in your mouth,” Beddington said. Still, “GM is being eaten widely throughout the world and we’ve not had indications of major problems.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: January 29, 2009 06:45 EST