Jim Rogers on the occupation with the brightest future

World-renowned investor Jim Rogers says the profession of the future is no longer in finance and banking. If you work on Wall Street, prepare for more government regulation, persecution and scapegoating, he says.

There is, however, one occupation that Rogers says will prosper—and it is not a profession generally associated with Harvard or most other Ivy League types. What is this mysterious job opportunity?

Farming. Yes, farming. Rogers says:

I have told you before, become a farmer. Stop all this financial stuff. Become a farmer. Drive a tractor. Get a tractor. Get rid of the Mercedes and get a tractor? … There are many vast opportunities in agriculture and farming.

And why does Rogers say farming is the way to go? Is it because of increasing demand for food from Asia? Are degraded soils restricting food production? Are unpredictable weather patterns pushing up food prices?

All those things may be true, but according to Rogers, there is another ominous trend set to decimate global food production.

Farmers of the bread basket nations are dying. The world is literally running out of farmers. Rogers explains:

The average age of farmers in America is 58. In Asia, 66. In Australia, 58. In ten years American farmers will be 68 if they are still alive.

Where is all the expertise to run farms going to come from? Farming was barely profitable for so long that few children stand ready to take over the family farm. They have gone to the cities instead, to chase higher-paying careers. Running a modern farm is a highly technical and intensive science—not something that you can pick up as you go.

Rogers’s advice: Forget banking and finance and become a farmer. But America’s going to be in a lot of trouble if it is to rely on Wall Street types to produce its food.