After Record Farm Profits, It's Time to Buy Agriculture Stocks
Agriculture stocks are one place that I'll be looking for profits in the year ahead.
Farmland that pays a dividend
Before I reveal the name of this stock, I want to point out that buying a company with farmland in the mix is a great diversification play - and doubly so when it pays a dividend.
That's because when you buy this type of company, you're getting exposure to the continued profitability of its underlying farm business, but you're also buying actual farmland that the company owns - and if you've been reading this letter, you probably know that I'm extremely bullish on farmland prices.
I also happen to be bullish on the commodities that grow on farms; corn, wheat, sugar, cattle, pigs, chickens, etc.
The dividend is just a small bonus, but I know there are readers out there interested in income, so it's worth a mention - even though it's only a 2% annual yield.
Jim Rogers is bullish on agriculture
Okay, it's not news that Jim Rogers likes agriculture. He's taken every opportunity to tell anyone who will listen that he likes farmland, corn, wheat, rice - and just about every other agriculture commodity.
But unless you have a margin account on a commodity futures exchange, you probably can't follow his advice to a T.
In other words, if Jim shows up on CNBC and says he likes rice (as he did on August 28th - you can watch the video by clicking here) it's frustrating to sit on the sidelines if you don't have a futures account.
And I'm not recommending that you should open a futures account and simply follow Mr. Roger's advice every time he's on TV. Even if you have a futures account, you know that it's almost a full-time job keeping track of the complicated options and futures contract strategies that would be considered entry-level for most traders.
But I do think your portfolio should have some exposure to agriculture, for reasons so simple that a kindergartner can understand them:
The biggest reason is population growth. According to a 2004 study from the United Nations, "World population is projected to grow from 6.1 billion in 2000 to 8.9 billion in 2050, increasing therefore by 47 per cent."
The only cheap fertilizer company
Last week fertilizer stocks all surged in unison after the world's largest mining company BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) tried, and failed, to acquire the world's largest potassium company Potash Corp. (NYSE: POT).
Right now, there's only one company in the sector that's still (relatively) inexpensive. More on that company in a minute…
First, a little tooting of my own horn: just over a month ago, I recommended you pick up shares of another fertilizer company (now the second largest) -Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS).
Here's what I said on July 22:




















