Growing world middle class changing grain industry

J.B. Penn, chief economist with Deere & Company, set an optimistic tone during the opening session of the U.S. Grains Council’s 2011 International Marketing Conference and Annual Membership Meeting in New Orleans.

In “Forces Shaping the Agricultural Marketplace of the Future,” Penn credited rising incomes and changes in dietary preferences of the growing middle class in developing countries as important drivers of demand for U.S. coarse grains.

Fast-growing world demand is keeping commodity prices high. Penn noted that 40 percent of the world’s population now lives in countries with economies that are growing at eight percent annually. “This is good news for people with grain to sell,” Penn said. Penn contended the world is undergoing a significant and sustainable shift in supply and demand. Read more ...


This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.