Why Farmers Should Bet on Their Own Harvests (And How Prediction Markets Make It Possible)
Imagine harnessing the predictive power of financial markets to forecast wheat yields in Kansas, anticipate bet blaze monsoon patterns affecting Indian rice production, or estimate coffee crop failure risks in Brazil months before harvest. Agriculture prediction markets are emerging as transformative tools that crowdsource collective intelligence from farmers, agronomists, traders, and data scientists to generate remarkably accurate forecasts about agricultural outcomes. Unlike traditional forecasting methods that rely solely on …
Food is Just as Vital as Oil to National Security
70% of Ukraine is a prime agricultural area. It is responsible for producing a significant portion of the world’s wheat, potatoes, corn, rye, barley, and sunflower oil. Crop shipments from Ukraine to the European Union, India, China, and other parts of Northern Africa and the Middle East are falling as Russian forces block Ukrainian ports. Meanwhile, the flow of grain exports from Russia, the world’s largest wheat producer, is being disrupted by harsh Western sanctions.
Today’s discussion focuses on the global impact of Russia’s war in …
Another Food Crisis?
The consequences of the Ukraine crisis are likely to last for months, if not years. If the cuts in wheat exports from Russia and Ukraine are as severe as expected, global wheat supplies will be severely limited. If fertilizer exports are drastically reduced, global markets for food sources will become tighter. This will put vulnerable people around the world at risk of rising food costs and starvation.
The small …
