Understanding world megatrends for grain business decision making

摘要

Industry mega-trends - the long-term trends that will fundamentally affect grain supply and demand over the longer term -will not necessarily have an impact on the profitability of farm businesses over the shorter term. Much more significant over theshorter term are factors such as seasonal conditions, rainfall, international grain stock levels, planting and harvest outlooks in major grain-producing regions, oil and energy prices, exchange rates and the costs of farm inputs such as fertiliser and chemicals. Grain industry mega-trends will, however, have a fundamental impact on the average profitability of grain businesses over the longer term and are therefore important to be aware of, especially when making long-term investment decisions.