Archer Daniels Midland's (ADM) stock has been in an incremental, minor uptrend since May 2009, hence plenty of upside remains, and that's one reason I'm reiterating my buy rating for the company's shares, first recommended on March 25, 2009 at a price of $28.78.

The major reason for the ADM Buy recommendation is the development of emerging markets.The global recession has weighed on ADM's results, but long-term the company remains well-positioned to capitalize on the development of emerging markets, and population growth, which will increase demand for food. Oilseed performance will be a star performer, followed by agricultural services. Further, margins should increase in FY2010 and FY2011. The First Call FY2010/FY2011 EPS estimates for ADM are $2.80 to $2.90. That $2.90 FY2011 EPS estimate will likely prove to be low.

Just call December a break-out month for Syngenta Ag (SYT), and that's a major reason why I'm reiterating my buy rating for the company's shares, first recommended on June 16, 2009, at a price of $47.28.

Syngenta's stock did revisit and break through the psychologically-significant $50 level and shortly later removed a possible double-top -- a bearish pattern, from a technical analysis standpoint.

Agricultural manufacturer Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) is trading slightly lower in after hours trading this afternoon after the company posted lower than expected earnings for its fiscal first quarter.

Going into this afternoon's release, analysts had been expecting to see the company show earnings of 35 cents per share, but the company came in well below this estimate, with actual earnings of just 23 cents per share. During the same period last year the company had earnings of $2.65 per share.

"Investing in the fertilizer business may not sound sexy, but the dynamics and fundamentals of the food business will turn it into one of the most profitable sectors you could find.," explains global expert Tony Sagami.

In his The Asia Stock Alert he suggests, "Every farmer needs to use fertilizer -- and the most used and most important fertilizer is potash. And Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) is set to make a bundle supplying potash to the world."

"There are approximately 6.6 billion people on our planet today, but that number is expected to grow to 8.2 billion by 2030. That's a lot of mouths to feed. Plus, the amount of food each mouth is eating is also increasing.

With the Shanghai index plunging 20.6% last week, some China small-cap stocks are now trading at attractive valuations. One of my favorites is China Green Agriculture (AMEX: CGA).

China Green Agriculture is fertilizer company based in Xian, China that has been on the rise. Shares are up 286% year-to-date as investors gobbled up the stock. The most recent financial results, released in May, showed a 99% increase in revenues, and a similarly impressive 133% increase in net income.

Shares of seed and agricultural products company Monsanto Company (NYS: MON) plunged from $92 to $79 yesterday when the company lowered guidance. Monsanto has long been a favorite play on the growing demand for food. It's high-tech, genetically manipulated seeds can produce higher crop yields. No doubt, the food future looks bleak and that's good for Monsanto. But how long will investors have to wait before demand hockey sticks for these seeds and Monsanto can make higher prices stick?

Is it time to ride the rails? In Gordon Pape's The Internet Wealth Builder, analyst Tom Slee reaffirms his buy rating on Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI), his top pick in the sector.

"Burlington Northern is my preferred choice in the railroad industry. At first glance, Burlington Northern had a particularly bad first quarter.

"Profit was $0.86 a share, down sharply from $1.30 a share the year before. However, when unusual items such as an unfavourable coal rate decision are excluded, operating earnings amounted to a much more acceptable $1.13 a share, well above the 96c analysts were looking for.

"In a few years we'll be staring at new highs in the prices of many natural resources," says Larry Edelson, a specialist in resource-related stocks. In Real Wealth, he looks at two exchange-traded funds focused on food and water.

"Mind you, the U.S. and global economies will not get back to the growth levels we've recently seen, not anytime soon.

"But they don't have to for natural resource prices to soar again. The chief reason they will climb again: Massive, worldwide currency devaluations, especially in the U.S. dollar.

"Moreover, natural resources will get a huge boost from the massive infrastructure spending that is now commencing around the world. I expect two key sectors in particular to get a big boost, almost immediately - agriculture and water.

Monsanto (NYSE: MON) has had a problem. Its genetically altered seeds have been hard to sell outside the U.S. For some reason, there is an impression that they may produce products that are less safe than those from natural seeds. With the economy making it harder to pay for planting crops and harder for developed nations to send food to countries where people are hungry, Monsanto's troubles may be easing.

"Investing in food is a simple story: expanding supply and demand fueled by rising global urbanization," says Yiannis Mostrous. In Personal Finance newsletter the global advisor looks at Monsanto (NYSE: MON).

"The global population is expected to surpass 9 billion by 2050. Wages are rising in emerging economies--led by India and China--and more people are moving into cities where the consistent and better paying jobs are.

"That means greater demand for protein-rich foods, especially meat and dairy consumption. The consumption of both has a strong correlation to urbanization. The result will be a permanent increase in demand for crop grains for feeding.

The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS), the combined Cargill Crop Nutrition and IMC Global Inc., began trading as a Fortune 500 company immediately after its 2004 IPO, and became a dominant player in the fertilizer business.

In just a few short years, Mosaic would be in prime position to ride a global boom in agricultural crop demand that resulted in its shares skyrocketing more than $130 from trough to peak.

From a valuation standpoint, the move higher was completely justified and rational -- up to a point. When the hedge fund momentum investors climbed aboard, astute investors knew that the rapid rise was due for a correction.

The stock sold off hard during the summer, which culminated in a complete washout due to the credit crisis and global economic meltdown. MOS shares fell back to the mid-$30s.

As is often the case, the selling went too far and had more to do with forced liquidations instead of rational valuation metrics.

This post was written by Minyanville contributor Jeff Macke.

Good Morning from New York, where the coffee is thick as mud and only slightly less bitter than the news from Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM). The Japanese automaker said it would be shutting down production for 11 days in the face of falling demand. There are also unconfirmed reports that Japan's finest will dump its planned expansions in Russia and Thailand, which I view as "good news" and "bad news," respectively.

Toyota shook off horrible sales reports yesterday. but there's only so much shaking it can do. These reports are like the straws on a camel's back...too many and eventually the load becomes too great. So is the straw that breaks the camel's back factored in to Toyota's stock? Watch TM today.

Your other tell du jour is The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) which is slightly higher pre-market after reporting last night. Mosaic posted an earnings beat and horrific outlook. That outlook is one traders should be expecting from most, if not all, of the Global Growth names which have been rallying sharply of late after crashing in '08. Have traders looked past the earnings slump this year or are they in denial about just how bad it's going to get? The guess here is "probably a little denial and a touch of forward looking."

Whatever your guess, the trading in Toyota and Mosaic today will offer a decent near-term trading tell for how stocks on the bleeding edge of the demand collapse.

"Agricultural commodities have been hurt in the recent turmoil," says growth stock expert Stephen Leeb. In The Complete Investor he looks at Mosaic (NYSE: MOS). a world leader in fertilizers.

"Mosaic has been decimated in price despite reporting record earnings. The company is the world's second-biggest producer of fertilizer components and the leading producer of potash.

"It's also the largest maker of processed phosphates, which gives it a lot of leverage to the rapidly growing markets of China and Brazil, and is an exclusive marketer of 1.2 million metric tons of nitrogen products.

"Since its high in June, the stock has lost three-fourths of its value and now trades at just 3 times next year's earnings. The sell-off came despite Mosaic's highest-ever earnings ($2.65 in the latest quarter vs. $0.69 a year earlier) and expanding gross margins (38.1% vs. 26%).

"The apparent reason was that those record earnings were slightly below some analyst estimates. Also, investors perhaps feared that farmers wouldn't be able to obtain credit to buy fertilizers.

"Once all the added liquidity puts these fears to rest, and given that the worldwide inventory of soybeans, corn, and wheat is forecasted to keep declining into 2009, we think demand for Mosaic's products will be strong.

"Long-term investors should use any temporary softness in fertilizer component prices as a great buying opportunity for Mosaic's shares."

Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a daily look at the latest market commentary and favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

"Investing in agriculture-related companies has been one of our main themes for the past year, and we still favor it," say resource experts Roger Conrad and Yiannis Mostrous.

The co-editors of Vital Resource Investor note, "We're adding a new stock to the portfolio that should benefit from the increasingly higher global demand for fertilizer: Potash Corp. (NYSE: POT).

"Potash is the world's largest and lowest-cost publicly traded potash producer, the fastest-growing segment in the fertilizer business. Its potash reserves are sufficient for more than 100 years of production.

"The company controls about 70% of the world's excess capacity. Potash Corp is also the world's third-largest phosphate producer and fourth-largest nitrogen producer. Current phosphate reserves should last more than 50 years.

"As incomes around the world rise, so does demand for food; and the explosive growth in population is aggravating the situation even further," note Yiannis Mostrous and Roger Conrad.

The co-editors of Vital Resource Investor explain, "The big cycle in food demand has begun, and long-term-oriented investors will be rewarded handsomely." What's the best play? Among their favorites is Monsanto (NYSE: MON).

"Monsanto is the undisputed leader in the genetically modified (GM) seed industry. Its business consists of two segments: Seeds/Genomics and Agricultural Productivity.

"The Seeds/Genomics segment consists of the company's global seeds and traits business, and genetic technology platforms, including biotechnology, breeding and genomics.

"The Agricultural Productivity segment consists primarily of crop protection products, residential lawn-and-garden herbicide products, and the company's animal agricultural businesses.

"Monsanto shares have been affected by the market's shorter-term gyrations, but the underlying business is extremely healthy. In fact, the seed business is currently in a sweet spot as global food demand changes dramatically.