Recent Issues

Global supply chain conditions are changing, with China at the centre: What will this mean for Canadian farmers?

China is home to nearly 1.5 billion people and is the world’s second largest economy, valued at USD$17.74 trillion in 2021. Canada’s agri-food exports to China represented almost CAD$9.4 billion in 2020, an increase of 43.3% from 2019. While China’s continued growth has been beneficial for exporters and significantly alleviated its domestic poverty rates metrics, the pace of its growth has also left some behind. Moreover, while its historical growth rate has been quite high, its potential growth may slow, with trade implications for exporters like Canada. These implications may be compounded by an increasingly inward-facing approach to development, as well as several key structural factors, including access to food, energy, and healthcare; an ageing population; and food security concerns. Due to the nature of today’s global supply chain, any instability in China has potential risks for its trade partners.

Markets: Market Disruptions

Posted Date: March 10, 2023

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How the chip shortage is impacting farms

When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), it wasn’t clear to producers what that would mean for the demand for agricultural products. In Canada, we faced challenges such as an increased demand for wheat flour and a decreased demand for dairy, leading to dumping. In a different industry, the world’s silicon chip manufacturers expected demand for electronic devices to decrease, and so production of these essential components was slowed down. Very soon, however, demand not only increased, but it began to outpace the rate of production. This shortage of chips began to affect many other industries, including agriculture, which uses a lot of advanced technology.

Markets: Market Disruptions

Posted Date: March 30, 2022

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Post-COVID Urban Exodus

With the massive exodus from large urban centres to suburbs, small towns and rural areas, caused by the COVID-19 crisis, the arrrival of new urban neighbors with different sets of values, norms and little knowledge and understanding of the actual farming realities can have an impact on the social fabric of the host communities.

People: Public Trust and Consumer Advocacy

Posted Date: April 13, 2021

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