3 Best Agriculture ETFs to Buy for 2024

The majority of the world’s food source is sustained via agriculture, making it a recession-resistant industry. Similar to most other industries, agriculture was also impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the group staged a recovery in the last two years as commodity prices soared on the back of easing of lockdown restrictions, higher global demand, and the Ukraine-Russia war, which squeezed supplies of key agricultural products, including wheat and fertilizers. 

Several agriculture stocks are trading near record highs, even though prices for commodities such as wheat and corn have pulled back in the last year. On the other hand, fertilizer manufacturers are wrestling with a strong U.S. dollar ($DXY), making their products more expensive in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America. 

Given the agriculture industry is quite large, investors can consider gaining diversified exposure by investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which lowers equity-specific investment risk by a significant margin. 

Here are three agriculture ETFs you can buy right now. 

1. Invesco DB Agriculture Fund

The Invesco DB Agriculture Fund (DBA) is a popular option for those looking to gain exposure to agricultural commodities. The ETF invests in a basket of agricultural resources such as corn, soybeans, wheat, sugar, cocoa, coffee, cotton, and feeder cattle, offering investors diverse commodity exposure and a hedge against inflation. 

With $780 million in assets under management, the DBA ETF has an expense ratio of 0.91%, which is relatively high. Down 27% from all-time highs, DBA has gained 28% in the last three years. 

The fund also pays shareholders an annual dividend of $0.96 per share, translating to a yield of 4.5%. 

2. VanEck Agribusiness ETF

The VanEck Agribusiness ETF (MOO) offers exposure to a basket of equities involved in the agriculture business. Its top five holdings include Deere & Co. (DE), Zoetis (ZTS), Bayer (BAYRY), Nutrien (NTR), and Corteva (CTVA), which account for 35.8% of the fund. While the majority of these holdings operate in developed markets, it also offers some exposure to emerging markets, such as Brazil and Malaysia. 

The MOO ETF is positioned to benefit from the increase in global food demand and may offer a hedge against inflation, as agri-based commodities are generally the first to rise amid inflation. 

With $927 million in assets under management, MOO has an expense ratio of 0.53%. This ETF trades 34% below all-time highs and has returned 68% in the past decade, after adjusting for dividends. MOO pays $2.24 in dividends annually for a forward yield of 3.1%.

3. iShares MSCI Agriculture Producers ETF

The final ETF on my list is the iShares MSCI Agriculture Producers ETF (VEGI), which provides exposure to agricultural commodity prices via a portfolio of equities in the agri-business segment. These holdings include companies such as Deere & Co., Corteva, Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Nutrien, and Lamb Weston (LW), which together account for 45% of the ETF's weight.

With $149 million in assets under management and an expense ratio of 0.39%, the VEGI ETF is the cheapest ETF on this list. 

Down 25% from all-time highs, VEGI shares have gained 70% in dividend-adjusted gains since January 2014. The ETF pays shareholders an annual dividend of $0.55 per share, indicating a forward yield of almost 2.7%.