Farm-production strains may keep food prices high.

Agricultural production is struggling to keep pace with demand as diets improve around the world and agricultural products become more central to energy markets, according to a report being released by Credit Suisse Group. The structural changes in agriculture markets mean commodity prices, and therefore consumer food prices, will continue to stay aloft over coming years, with emerging markets feeling more of the burden since a larger slice of their spending is more heavily weighted toward food, the report says. However, net agriculture exporters, like Brazil and Malaysia, and foreign food companies with lower labor costs could benefit.

Exacerbating the situation is the advent of biofuels. The report estimates that crops grown to meet government biofuel mandates world-wide will account for 12 percent of total arable and permanent cropland over the next 10 to 15 years, up from about 2 percent today.