29 March 2008
Agricultural boom
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Global demand has, in recent years, driven prices for resources to record levels, with the big miners such as BHP and Rio Tinto reaping the benefits.
But in the past 12 months a new commodities boom -- unrelated to the mining of minerals and metals -- has been gathering pace.
Prices for so-called soft commodities: wheat, corn, soy beans and dairy products to name a few, have gone through the roof. In the case of wheat the humble grain has risen 500 per cent in just over a year.
Once again this is, on the face of it, good news for Australia and its legion of primary producers.
But what are the broader implications of this rush on agricultural products, an event that is beginning to look like a classic tale of boom and bust?
Guests
Brett Stevenson
Managing Director, Marketcheck
Story Researcher and Producer
Scott Wales
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