SAN ANTONIO (DTN) -- This year's crisis in the livestock industry is just one fallout from 2008's over-heated commodity markets. Add to that dozens of ethanol reorganizations, the bankruptcy of the largest poultry integrator in the country and fertilizer dealers stung when the value of their inventory depreciated 70 percent in one year.

Speakers at the National Agricultural Bankers Conference in San Antonio Nov. 15-18 cautioned that more volatile commodity prices could be the norm for agriculture -- not the exception -- as worldwide demand for food and fuel increases. They shared six crucial lessons at the bankers' meeting that ...