This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

"Whenever inflation heats up, there's no better place to park your cash than in tangible commodities," says Nathan Slaughter.

In his The ETF Authority, he noes "Our favorite play on this sector is Market Vectors Hard Asset Producers (HAP), an ETF whose 300-stock portfolio provides one-stop shopping for six distinct commodity sub-sectors."

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

"The 2010 global recovery brings opportunity in agriculture commodities," says fund expert Doug Fabian, who turns to the "soft ag" sector for his top investment idea for the coming year.

In his The ETF Trader, the advisor looks to a leveraged exchange-traded note -- the DB Agriculture Double Long ETN (DAG). Here's his review.

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

"Monsanto (MON) is my top investment idea for 2010," says Sy Harding, an advisor well-known for his seasonal timing strategies.

In his Street Smart Report, he observes, "Monsanto is the world's leading provider of biotech-advanced seeds and agricultural products for growers; seeds for corn, soybeans, cotton, fruit, and vegetables, which are produced by its genomics division."

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.

"I'm often drawn to companies that fly 'under the radar' or are misunderstood by investors, such as Del Monte Foods (NYSE: DLM)," says Chuck Carlson in his The DRIP Investor.

"Most people recognize the Del Monte name and the company's brands in the fruit and vegetable business. But did you know that Del Monte is also home to some of the most popular pet-food brands in the marketplace?

"Profits have been solid in recent quarters, and growth should continue in 2010. An improving ?nancial position and a rising dividend round out the appeal.

"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.

"Both short and long-term factos suggest higher agricultural prices," says Leonard Goodall in No-Load Portfolios. Here, the fund expert looks at a pair of agriculture-based ETFs.

"Bad weather through the country has had a negative impact on the agriculture sector. Rain and flooding in the plains states has caused a delay in harvesting the winter wheat crop and other grains are behind in their normal growing season.

"Moreover, current grain supplies are low as compared with demand. These factors point to the possibility of higher grain prices in the months to come.

"Few investments have a proven track record of defying a sinking economy and stock market, but General Mills (NYSE: GIS) is among them," says Martin Weiss in his Safe Money Report.

He explains, "You probably have some of General Mills' products in your pantry or freezer. The Minneapolis-based food firm makes everything from Cheerios and Chex cereals to Fruit Roll-Ups, Bisquick pancake mix, and Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

"This broad consumer product line has helped it deliver solid single-digit earnings growth not only in good times, but also the worst quarters of the recession. Now, in its fiscal fourth quarter ended May 31, General Mills knocked the cover off the ball.

In the most recent edition of Barron's, fund manager Scott Black touted shares of Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ: CALM), the country's largest egg producer, as a stock worth buying. The company generates a return on equity of over 30%, and Black said that at just over 5x earnings, the stock is extraordinarily cheap. When the market revalues Cal-Maine at "just eight times [next year's estimated] earnings, you've got a $38.50 stock." Shares of CALM, which closed Friday at $22.90, were up to $24.86 by Wednesday morning.

I'm familiar with Cal-Maine, having been introduced to the company more than a year ago when it was the focus of a presentation at the Boston College Investment Club. Last summer, I spoke with the company's CFO, Tim Dawson, who gave me a much better understanding of the egg business. Though I came away convinced that Cal-Maine is in very capable hands, I believed then -- as I still do now -- that the stock is not a buy. Here's why.

"Asia is booming again, and one industry that is growing like wildfire is 'green' tech in China," says Mark Skousen. In The Turnaround Alert, he eyes China Green Agriculture (AMEX: CGA)."

"Urban population and demand for energy is exploding, causing pollution and a reduction in per capita arable land to feed 1.4 billion Chinese.

"One way to profit is to buy China Green Agriculture, one of the fastest-growing agricultural technology companies in China.

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.

Agricultural entity Monsanto (NYSE: MON) reported Q2 numbers on Thursday. While some metrics were down, I came away from the earnings release thinking that the company is probably a good long-term holding. Short-term could be a different story, though, as the stock has had a run-up recently.

Sales increased 8% in the second quarter, but profits on a dollar basis decreased 3%. On an adjusted basis, however, net income beat Wall Street's expectations. Analysts were looking for $2.07 per share. Monsanto delivered $2.16 per share. Excellent.