When we talk about farmland, it is easy to associate images of wide endless fields, ranch houses, tractors plowing, and the like. It seems that images of a busy city are so far away from the vast expanse of cheap land that a farm has. Life in the farm to take on a slower pace than the bustling lives of city dwellers.
Well, it used to be that way. But today, Wall Street is starting to buy up the farm. Investment power houses like BlackRock and insurance giants have been trying to put so much money on these farmlands for their own use. The reason for this is that farmland in some states, like Nevada, mean farmland with water rights due to the dry climate.
Today we see agricultural land prices at a relatively low figure. Even agricultural products are not that expensive. But consider this: in the 1960s, each person is estimated to have an average of 1.1 acres of arable land. This is according to data from the United Nations. In 2000, this has been reduced to only around 0.6 acres--and in 40 years, it is expected that the world population will grow from 6 to 9 billion.
At this rate, a boom in agricultural land prices should not be far off. Wall Street is making good investments here. But it is really good for the global population as a whole? Water is already starting to become a scarce resource. If this goes on, we might find ourselves scrambling for food in the coming decades.
The job of resisting temptation is far from easy. If you are a farmer from Nevada and money is being shoved to you for the use of your land and your water rights, it won't be easy. Why do you have to use water for your farm when you can have the money and let the water be used by Las Vegas instead?
Farming as a source of livelihood has been here since time immemorial. It's one of those fundamental jobs that make people continue to live. With the continous transformation of arable land into urban dwellings, I fear that the future might be grim for humanity.
