Legendary investor Jim Rogers discusses investment ideas and expectations for the future with CNBC on January 14, 2010. (Video follows excerpts and commentary)

“The fundamentals [for investing in agriculture] have gotten better. The inventories are now at the lowest they’ve been in decades. Not in years – the first time I told you about it the inventories were the lowest in years, now it’s the lowest in decades. Things are getting worse. Many farmers cannot get loans to buy fertilizer now, even though we have big shortages developing.

No, some time in the next few years we’re going to have very serious shortages of food everywhere in the world and prices are going to go through the roof.”

In addition to the problems that farmers are having acquiring lending for general operations and expansion, it is also possible that the world may experience food shortages in the near future due to inclement weather which has reportedly led to massive crop failures. Additionally, for those living in countries with governments and central banks that are printing extreme amounts of physical currency, which is pretty much everyone, prices for essential goods like food will likely begin rising some time in 2010 and this rise could continue for years to come.

Hat tip All Things Jim Rogers

Jim Rogers on CNBC January 14, 2010