Stable prices and more restrained agricultural markets are on the horizon, according to a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The stability, the groups predict, will come from increases in agricultural production and slightly larger crop areas, which will cover rises in food demands, Reuters explains.
The report predicts in the next 10 years food consumption will be tempered by moderate economic growth, a slower population increase and a trend of households allocating extra money to non-food items.
All of this is expected to create relatively flat real agriculture prices over the next decade.
The number of undernourished people across the globe is also expected to decline over the next 10 years, according to the report, from 11 percent of the population to 8 percent—a decrease of about 150 million undernourished people.
I would strongly suggest the current agricultural commodity prices for grains and cotton to the farmer are at or below the cost of the commodity production. This questions the economic sustainability of a broadband of agriculture due to the low commodity prices and inadequate farm bill.
I would also suggest many producers will find lending institutions reluctant to provide operating loans for future crops.
The strength of a nation is its ability to feed itself. .