Sure, this website is mostly about investing in precious metals, but we’re going to take a break and talk about something every investor should be learning more about: investing in agriculture. If this article ends up becoming fairly popular, I’ll be creating a full-fledged website dedicated to investing in agriculture and farming investments.

Just because Wall Street hasn’t really had its hands on agriculture, it doesn’t mean that farming and growing crops, along with raising livestock, growing produce and fruits are not big businesses. In fact, they are and expanding, especially if one considers how the growing world population and the increased living standards in many previously under-developed countries will put new round of pressures on global food supply.

But to investors’ disappointment, agriculture, farming in particular, has been traditionally a family business. There are no publicly traded farming companies, namely crop growers. Although nowadays many farmers may have come to farm their land in the form of a corporation, a legal way to eliminate potentially unlimited personal liabilities, there are no “shared holders” in most cases for even these private companies, big or small; they are still family owned in nature.

Besides, who needs to come to the stock market to raise capital, when many farmers can receive government farm subsidies under the Farm Bill. However, there are still many indirect ways that investors can invest in agriculture and farming, by either working through the food-supply chain, taping into the farm supply system, or trading agriculture commodities.

1. Investing in Food Companies

Everything farmers grow is later procured, processed, stored, and merchandised by many other agricultural commodity processing companies, one being Archer Daniels Midland Company, a known name in the business.

Further going down the food chain, there are companies like Kraft Foods and General Mills, food manufacturers that make packaged food for consumers.

One can even invest in grocery retailers, at the end of the food chain, to potentially benefit from any upside in the general agriculture business. But of course, the further away from the agriculture source, the less direct impact on your investments out of farming fields.

2. Investing in Farm suppliers

Modern farming are supported by various farm-product manufacturers that provide everything from seeds, fertilizer, pesticide, to farming equipment. When farming is doing well, it increases farmers’ demand on all kinds of farm supplies and the entire agribusiness is to benefit.

Big names in agribusiness include Monsanto, the innovative seed provider, Potash, an integrated fertilizer supplier, and John Deere, maker of various farming equipment.

3. Trading Agriculture Commodities

For those who understand well the agricultural business and have the means to get involved, a more direct way to invest in agriculture is to trade agriculture commodities in the futures market. Everything from corn, oats, soybeans, to rice and wheat are available in futures contracts traded on various commodity exchanges.

4. Non-Farming Public Companies

While farming remains family operated, some commercial corporate activities have ventured into livestock raising and even fishing. There are a number of such publicly traded companies both on exchanges and over-the-counter markets. There are also publicly traded meat packing companies, noticeably Tyson Foods.

Since meat production is another part of the food supply, investments in both segments can go hand in hand if any cost increases in animal feeds in the event of runaway grain prices can be offset by meat producers’ own pricing power.

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