Clusterfuck Nation author James Howard Kunstler, writing in The Daily Reckoning Australia, has an apocalyptic view of the future of US agribusiness — based as it is on “cheap oil and cheap natural-gas-based fertizer.” James says it will take a convulsion it will be dragged kicking-and-screaming into a new reality. Meanwhile, Americans are entering a season of food hoarding…

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…

Rice prices have hit fresh records after World Bank officials said Thailand, the largest exporter of the grain, may restrict exports, worsening the global food crisis.

The price of rice, which has doubled in the past year, jumped 2.3% in Chicago today.

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