Jim Rogers: Agriculture and food prices to soar next several years

Agriculture has been such a disaster for 30 years that we are running out of farmers. The average age of farmers in America is 58. In Japan, it's 66. I could go on and on. The demographics [for those hoping for lower food prices over time] are terrible. At the same time, nobody's going into farming - no young people. In America, more people study public relations than study agriculture. So the old ones are dying and retiring, and no young farmers are coming in. The price of agriculture has to go up a lot, or we're not going to have any food at any price. I mean, if we have a big crop this year, [prices will] go down - but that will just make the (long-term) fundamental situation worse, because then you'll attract even less capital, fewer young farmers. So I certainly see a gigantic move in agriculture products over the next several years.

Jim Rogers is a bestselling author, financial commentator and successful international investor. Rogers was a co-founder of the Quantum Fund (considered to be the first truly international fund of its kind) and is the creator of the Rogers International Commodities Index (RICI).