Where has all the money gone-?

Interesting changes in American investment strategies. This represents a Long Term shift in strategy. Stock Market prices vs Live Stock prices... I think the mandated/imposed rules and regulations coming soon will affect all but the largest companies. The following brief report I found worthy of sharing. I have noticed my investors seeking a place to put capital to work. Someplace safe and highly likely to produce income as well as be a safe store of wealth. People will need to eat.... I hope you enjoy this "find"

Regards, AJ
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Strategic Investments in Farmland

Article by Ryland Moore. According to a report issued by the USDA’s Agricultural Statistics Service at the end of February this year, the United States had a reduction of over 3 million acres in producing farmland in 2012. Drought was the largest driver behind the reduction in productive agriculture, coupled with a renewed development cycle to meet the returning demand for housing after the residential real estate and stock market crash. In addition, Yale Economics professor and respected co-founder of the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, Robert Shiller, stated that farm and ranchland was a strong buy along with stocks as a good future investment.

While many states declined in number of farmland acres in production in 2012, Oregon was a bright spot with a net increase in over 200,000 acres in farm production. The increase is likely due to continued high prices in the commodities market, combined with ending cycles under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) converting rested land back to agriculture. States like Oregon that did not have drought conditions in 2012 benefited from a low supply in the crop markets and allowed farmers and ranchers to obtain premium prices for crops; 2011 already proved to be one of the best years in Oregon’s farming history with $1.03 billion in net farm income. Expected later this year, 2012 figures look to be even better.

With less acreage under production in the US, possible drought conditions across the Midwest and Texas, and an increasing global population expected to grow by another 2 billion people in the next 20 years, demand and need for basic commodities such as wheat, alfalfa and corn will continue. We expect farmland prices in Oregon to continue on an upward trend as they have done since 2010. Demand for farmland is still high. With tighter yields in the bond market, stocks priced for perfection, and the market at all-time highs, many investors will look to diversify instead of sitting on cash. Forward-thinking Buyers are looking to areas where drought has typically not been a problem in the past.

Looking forward, conditions are unfavorable for the Midwest again in the 2013 season. USDA Chief Economist Joseph Glauber, who recently testified to the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, stated, “that about 60 percent of U.S. winter wheat production was under drought conditions.” Similarly, Scott Yates, director of communications for the Washington Grain Commission has learned of several reports indicating the lack of moisture has already stunted the 2013 Midwestern wheat crop to the degree that it will not be a quality crop. "Once again the Northwest, for the most part, is sitting in the catbird seat when it comes to the wheat crop in the nation," Yates said. "We have adequate moisture, we haven't had any arctic express come down, we've got snow cover over some of the land."

Now more than ever, investing in farm and ranchland continues to be an excellent way to diversify your portfolio, receive tax benefits, and afford recreational opportunities that other types of real estate simple cannot offer. For more information on the Oregon market, please contact Ryland Moore of Live Water Properties at ryland@livewaterproperties.com or 971.645.1515.

Notes From Wise People In The Past

I recently ran across these on www.goodreads.com... I read all of Heinlein's books I could find when I was a kid...

These quotations seem pretty good advice and insightful observations on life, mainly from an American perspective... I guess he helped shaped/confirm my view of the world as I grew up and went wandering about... The following are but a sample... I am finding the quotations of those who went before a helpful guide as I'm adjusting to this new phase of life. Once I get things understood and working fairly well-they/I change... That means adjusting myself and working to understand WTF is happening and how is it different... Those who went before dropped notes in bottles for us/me to find... Once I adjust to this new format, I'll add some comments of my own in response... Why-? Because I share and seek response from those passing by. I'm going to work at avoiding politics until we're past this "Lost Decade of Uncertainty, 2007-20017". There is No Free Lunch but some will get rich promising one and others will find ways to profit by accommodating changes while seeking special favors for themselves. Bribing people with their own money has never been so easy or have so many been so gullible.

"Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own."
— Robert A. Heinlein (Stranger in a Strange Land)

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
— Robert A. Heinlein

"I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."
— Robert A. Heinlein

"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."
— Robert A. Heinlein (The Moon is a Harsh Mistress)

"There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him."
— Robert A. Heinlein (The Moon is a Harsh Mistress)

"Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.
But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants "just a few minutes of your time, please—this won't take long." Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time—and squawk for more!
So learn to say No—and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you. (This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don't do it because it is "expected" of you.)"
— Robert A. Heinlein (Time Enough for Love)

"Whenever women have insisted on absolute equality with men, they have invariably wound up with the dirty end of the stick. What they are and what they can do makes them superior to men, and their proper tactic is to demand special privileges, all the traffic will bear. They should never settle merely for equality. For women, "equality" is a disaster."
— Robert A. Heinlein

"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life."
— Robert A. Heinlein (Beyond This Horizon)

"At least once every human should have to run for his life, to teach him that milk does not come from supermarkets, that safety does not come from policemen, that 'news' is not something that happens to other people. He might learn how his ancestors lived and that he himself is no different--in the crunch his life depends on his agility, alertness, and personal resourcefulness."
— Robert A. Heinlein

"The first principle of freedom is the right to go to hell in your own handbasket."
— Robert A. Heinlein

"Listen, son. Most women are damn fools and children. But they've got more range then we've got. The brave ones are braver, the good ones are better — and the vile ones are viler, for that matter. "
— Robert A. Heinlein