WHAT PRICE FARMLAND?

South African Farmland
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

TRENDS IN AGRICULTURE

The USA’s Forbes magazine is one of the world’s foremost business publications. According to the 2020 team of experts and authors, they predict that by the year 2018, 20% of all food consumed in United States cities will come from rooftop and parking lot farms. Read that again : 20% of all food in the US. That’s a staggering number, and they contend that in addition to making cities more resilient, the health benefits, for both our bodies and minds and that of our planet, of consuming food grown within a small radius of our homes or workplaces, are significant.

Makes you think, doesn’t it? When the premium on farmland is such that we’re having to resort to rooftop gardens, we’ll know the world is overpopulated. And hopefully, our bankers will have reason to have some respect for the balance sheets of their farming clients!