Commerzbank Pulls out of Food Price Speculation

Aug 13, 2012

Commerzbank’s Moral Move

The 2012 drought that’s hammering the Corn Belt regions in the U.S. and parts of Canada has been stirring up chaos in the food price debate with every major bank and agriculture economics expert speculating on what food prices are going to do in response to the drought. It’s been a circus of speculating opinions, instilling fear among farmers and consumers alike. For one bank speculating on food prices is a moral statement, Commerzbank one of the biggest banks in Germany has said that they will stop speculating on basic food prices as they will not play a role in artificially pushing up food prices.

"If a bank can't be sure which damage such speculation may cause, it should not offer such funds to be on the safe side," Foodwatch Germany Managing Director Thilo Bode said in a statement.

Commerzbank has eliminated all agricultural products from its Commodity fund, to ensure that their agricultural funds don’t artificially spur food prices contributing to possible hunger in some parts of the world. This is an admirable move made by Commerzbank and they should be commended on their leadership and signalling to the world that they don’t plan on exacerbating the food price scenario.

Video: Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes | Field Talk Friday

Field Talk Friday | Dr. John Murphy | Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes

Most of us spend our time managing what we can see above ground—plant height, leaf color, stand counts, and yield potential. But the deeper you dig into agronomy, the more you realize that some of the most important processes driving crop performance are happening just millimeters below the surface.

In this episode of Field Talk Friday, Dr. John Murphy continues the soil biology series by diving into one of the most fascinating topics in modern agronomy: root exudates and the role they play in shaping the microbial world around plant roots.

Roots are not passive structures simply pulling nutrients out of the soil. They are active participants in the underground ecosystem. Plants constantly release compounds into the soil—sugars, amino acids, organic acids, and other molecules—that act as both energy sources and signals for soil microbes.