How do I invest in agriculture?

[TXcarlosTX]

I read something that you cant invest in rice directly?

Is this true?

 

[cubical]

You can buy food companies that own farms like tyson, Pilgrim's Pride, Smithfield Foods or Sanderson Farms, those those are all meat farms. On these boards Duck says he is invested in farms, so maybe he can give his opinion.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Maybe ConAgra? Archer Daniels Midland (ethanol)? Agriculture tends to have low profit margins and are subject to things like weather . This article has some suggestions: http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/T...This-decade-s-investment-the-agriculture-play

 

[AceNZ]

How do I invest in agriculture?

Possibilities:

-- Commodities (agricultural futures or options on futures)
-- Agriculture funds, such as DBA
-- Stock of companies involved with agriculture (growers, processors, transportation, equipment, fertilizer, etc)
-- Buy some farmland yourself, either directly or through a co-op
-- Foreign vs. domestic

I read something that you cant invest in rice directly?

Is this true?

Rice trades on the CBOT, among other places. If you're looking for a vehicle more "direct" than a futures contract, it's more difficult, but still possible.

 

[eric_cartman]

i think this is actually a really great question... because i think agriculture will be a great investment, but it's really not a very convenient sector to invest in for the general public. that's the nice thing about gold and silver... it's easy to invest in for everyone.

i guess the ETFs seem like the way that most people would use to invest in agricultural commodities ... but what about just trying to do what Jim Rogers is doing? Jim Rogers is one of my favourite economists and he's a huge bull on agricultural commodities. What is it like investing in the Rogers Commodity Index? RICI? I've heard that maybe the fees are a bit high or something like that, and maybe you'd get better value trading the ETFs, but i personally trust Jim Rogers, so he would seem like the guy to follow as far as investing in agriculture. It seems like Rogers has spread out his risk and buys the physical commodities on exchanges all around the world, so if i had a lot of money, it might be worth the price to just put my money with one of his funds... just because i'd feel pretty safe keeping my money somewhat under his control... rather than sending my money to whoever runs the DBA ETF or something like that.

 

[Seraphim]

Best answer so far.

My favorite option is to invest in the farmers themselves.

Possibilities:

-- Commodities (agricultural futures or options on futures)
-- Agriculture funds, such as DBA
-- Stock of companies involved with agriculture (growers, processors, transportation, equipment, fertilizer, etc)
-- Buy some farmland yourself, either directly or through a co-op
-- Foreign vs. domestic



Rice trades on the CBOT, among other places. If you're looking for a vehicle more "direct" than a futures contract, it's more difficult, but still possible.

 

[psi2941]

unless you have millions to blow off, just go to sam club and buy a crap load

 

[Elwar]

Step 1. Buy

Step 2. Buy

Step 3. ???

Step 4. Profit!

 

[Gaddafi Duck]

I invest by career choice. Out of school, agricultural jobs pay well above, even for internships, relative to most industries..

If you're in college, study Agronomy or Water Science. Salaries will be much more generous to you.

Buying farmland/futures contracts probably aren't in the cards unless you have tens of thousands of dollars to do it.

I would look at fertilizer companies. Energy companies. Gold mining companies. That's where you can put money rather easily. The best investment for agriculture in my eyes for the modest investor is to work for an ag company.

The best part about agriculture is the people. I've found most associated with agricultural careers are much friendlier than the other lines of work I've come across.