From Lake Tahoe on Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk Podcast, host Ryan welcomes back Sal Gilbertie, CEO of Teucrium ETFs, to discuss row crop investing and how corn, soybeans, wheat, and sugar can impact portfolios. Gilbertie explains how energy and fertilizer costs—especially amid Middle East conflict and potential LNG disruptions—affect crop economics and planting decisions, and why grains often trade near cost of production with historically limited downside at breakeven levels (corn around $4, trading near $4.40). He outlines the “golden grain cycle” (breakeven, disruption-driven spike, then replanting and normalization), notes steady long-term global demand, and describes grains’ diversification benefits, citing an agricultural index that outperformed the S&P 500 during multiple drawdowns. He also explains sugar’s volatility via Brazil’s ethanol-versus-sugar production economics and shares how advisors can research Teucrium resources to gain exposure via ETFs.
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Learn more about Teucrium here.
00:00 Welcome and Sponsor
01:04 Meet Sal Gilbertie
01:39 Teucrium and Grain ETFs
03:03 Macro Forces on Grains
04:05 Fertilizer and Crop Rotation
05:58 Supply Levels and Breakevens
08:47 Portfolio Benefits of Grains
11:51 Golden Grain Cycle Explained
14:35 Wheat Sugar and Global Producers
15:54 Fertilizer Inflation and 2027
18:28 Timing Grain Allocations
19:45 Corn Supply Pile
21:20 Seasonal Price Patterns
22:02 Portfolio Diversifier Case
24:28 Why Grains Get Ignored
27:50 Advisor Allocation Tactics
29:36 Sugar Ethanol Link
33:28 How To Get Exposure
35:28 Closing Thanks
