For the first time in a long time, the world has “very low inventories” of food products, Rogers told the BBC’s Simon Jack. Plus, there’s a shortage of farmers — and those we do have are getting older, with an average age in the U.S. of 58. Added together, that means there are good prospects in the field.
“Agriculture’s been a terrible business for 30 years. It is now beginning to get better,” the high-profile investor said Tuesday, on BBC Radio 4’s Today” program.
“If you want to make a lot of money in the future — which many people do — you should learn to drive a tractor.”
While the dapper money man may have been pulling Jack’s leg somewhat, his underlying message came through: There’s cash in crops.
It’s not the first time Rogers has suggested this move. A few months back, he told Barron’s that people should “buy shares in farms, farm equipment, fertilizer and seed companies that trade on exchanges around the world.” What makes today’s comments more pointed is that signs are suggesting he’s right in his gloomy prognostication on food supplies.
Severe weather of different kinds, production constraints and other factors are pushing up prices of beef, bread and other staples (read: 10 foods eating into your budget). Plus, California — the U.S.’s agricultural heartland — won’t get any irrigation water this summer, despite being gripped by a drought. That should end up hitting consumer wallets, too. And even the crisis in Ukraine could end up putting pressure on grain markets.
But back to that tractor advice. Why doesn’t Rogers become a farmer, rather than an investor? asked Jack.
“Because I’d be hopeless at it,” he replied, laughing. “I’m not a very smart person. You have be competent to become a farmer.”
- Source, Market Watch:
