The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index shows commodities jumped 29% in the first six months of this year - the best first half for more than 30 years.

But there is much talk now of a “commodities bear market” and the popping of the so-called “commodities bubble” as prices pull back from their highs.

Jim Rogers, however, remains a commodities bull. “This bull market is not magic,” says Jim, writing in Whiskey and Gunpowder. “It’s not some crazy ‘cycle theory’ I have. It does not fall out of the sky. It’s supply and demand. It’s simple stuff.”

Flooding in the Midwest and fears of crop damage caused corn prices to climb in Chicago for the eighth consecutive day — their biggest gain in 11 weeks. Prices are expected to hit $8 a bushel by next week.

“Corn is in trouble because of the wet spring that has drenched the midwest,” says Justice Litle in Taipan Daily.

Yesterday, the USDA said in a report that American corn output will be down significantly from last year’s estimate.

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Corn stocks are expected to plunge to a 13-year low, according to the US Department of Agriculture, setting up a great play in a little-known livestock ETF.

MarketWatch reports that corn stocks are set to suffer because US farmers are cutting back corn acreage this spring to grow more soybeans.

Corn futures for July delivery today closed down 1 cent at $6.2925 a bushel. The contract had ended Thursday’s session at $6.3025 a bushel, an all-time high.

There is no commodities bubble, at least according to the majority of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.

This from the WSJ:

Fifty-one percent of the respondents said demand from China and India was the prime factor in soaring energy prices, and 40% said demand was the chief contributor to rising food costs. Constrained supply was cited second most-often; 20% blamed supply problems for higher food prices and 15% for increasing energy prices.

“It’s a combination of demand and supply issues,” said Joseph Carson of AllianceBernstein.

“Soft commodities are now the best-performing sub-set of the commodity bull market,” says Eric Roseman in the Offshore A-Letter.

“The world’s supply is withering. The demand for these precious commodities is booming in emerging markets, while the world’s crop yields are plunging, trade restrictions are suppressing supplies and the bio-fuel craze is stealing crops for energy, rather than food.

Read on to find out about the blizzard of commodities ETFs launched over the last 12 months. These new ETFs allow both individual and institutional investors access to hot commodities like coffee, wheat, sugar and corn, to name only a few.

As investors search for a suitable rice ETF or commodities ETF to profit from rising food prices, news from Vietnam shows that the food crisis is from over.

According to Reuters: “Vietnam acted to quell panic over rice supplies on Monday, banning speculation in the market after a ‘chaotic’ buying binge in the Southeast Asian nation highlighted growing global fears about food security.

The move comes as protests spread through Africa over rising food prices, which aid experts have warned threaten to starve 100 people.