Ag exporters say they are happy with how goods have moved across the Canada-U.S. border during the COVID pandemic
Canada’s border situation with the United States has proven to be a fortunate and rare success for Canadian agriculture during a time of crisis. “COVID-19 has brought many challenges (but) luckily trade between Canada and the U.S. has not been one of them for the Canadian beef industry,” said Fawn Jackson, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association’s […] Read moreAuthor Archives
‘No great impediments’ seen in border traffic
Will the COVID crisis cause a food revolution?
Innovative technologies are waiting on the shelf, but will they finally be embraced?
There’s been lots of blather about exciting food and agriculture industry technological innovations. “Smart” everything has been talked about for more than a decade. My newspaper has published dozens of stories about the possibilities of blockchain. The “internet of things” is a term buzzing away at every farm and ag conference out there. But it’s […] Read more
Pandemic could prod gov’t to fix safety nets: researcher
In a rare occurrence, Canadian attention has been drawn to the country’s food system and food security. That could goad governments to fix inadequate safety net system, hopes a school of public policy researcher. “That public attention (during the pandemic) will also help translate to policy action,” said Kerri Holland during a webinar for the […] Read more
Border success cannot be allowed to breed failure
The Canada-United States border is a quiet success story hidden behind all the awfulness that has come out of COVID-19. Despite the worst pandemic in a century and despite a U.S. president that is given to playing hardball with foreign neighbours, trade has kept flowing across the Canada-U.S. border, helping keep us all fed, many […] Read more
U.S. economic reports show pandemic fallout
Farmers’ woes are being cited in key U.S. economic reports as COVID-19’s wide-ranging effects show up in data. “Contacts reported disruptions in the supply chain for meats, dairy and vegetables,” said the U.S. Federal Reserve Board’s upper Midwest district, quoted in the Fed’s May 2020 Beige Book commentary on economic data. Across the U.S., the […] Read more
Don’t take farming and food for granted says U of C report
Canadians and Canada’s governments shouldn’t take farming and food for granted. That’s the bottom line of a June 9 report from the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy. “Food security in Canada is not something to be taken for granted and government policy action must reflect the essential service agriculture provides for our nation,” […] Read more
Let’s be hopeful, but not stupid, as COVID-19 wanes
There was shocking economic news today: U.S. non-farm payroll numbers increased by 2.5 million, rather than declining by expectations for more than seven million. Got that? The U.S. added jobs in May rather than continuing to fall into a hole dug by COVID-19. Is that number real? Is it a statistical aberration? Is it a […] Read more
Analysts urged to mine more data for more accuracy
Ag economist says his colleagues should take the time to analyze futures curves, option spreads and cash market basis
Agricultural economists are ignoring much of the rich data readily available in crop markets, says one analyst. They should delve deeper into the prices and spreads between prices to better understand and analyze crop markets. “Hopefully this paper will inspire agricultural economists to expand their way of thinking and their toolkit when analyzing commodity prices […] Read more
Nations urged to stay the course on foreign aid
World Food Program recently doubled its estimate of the number of people at risk of imminent starvation to 265 million from 135 million
Open borders and funding for overseas food aid are essential in preventing starvation for hundreds of millions of people, says the head of the United Nations World Food Program as well as the head of Canada’s International Development Research Centre. The COVID-19 pandemic is a problem everywhere, but poor countries risk being hit much harder […] Read more
Survey finds producers feeling more stress
COVID-19 has piled more stress upon already stress-filled farmers, says the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. That’s why it’s important for the federal government to find more support for producers hit by complications from the crisis. “These are stressful and uncertain times for farmers,” said Marilyn Braun-Pollon, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s agriculture specialist. […] Read more
