Glacier FarmMedia – Crop and other commodity markets are off their highs, but don’t expect the commodity bull market to go away soon or for its impacts to fade. Prices for food, fuel and other indispensable commodities are still high enough to tip numerous nations into financial trouble, economic hardship, hunger and political strife. A […] Read more
Tag Archives economy
Opinion: Populist politics can have negative impact on debt crisis
Market value alone is selling nature short, governments told
Economic valuations needed but 'not sufficient,' co-chair says
Reuters — What is the value of a river? Is it for the nutritional content of the fish it sustains? The economic benefit of the local livelihoods it supports? Or does the river have its own value which humans cannot measure? Such questions may seem removed from the issues the world faces, from deepening climate […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: The larger picture behind drop in canola
MarketsFarm – While the declines in canola prices can be partially attributed to the lack of major weather concerns on the Canadian Prairies and the early development of this year’s crop, an analyst said the main reason is on a grander scale. “The major one is the overall drop in the commodity world. For instance, […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: ‘Meltdown’ not yet on canola market radar
MarketsFarm — There’s more to the sharp decline in U.S. wheat and corn futures than the possibility of Ukrainian exports returning to the global market along with the massive liquidation of longs, according to analyst Errol Anderson of ProMarket Communications in Calgary. “My theory with what is going on is that we’re seeing a fairly […] Read more
Comment: Interprovincial trade barriers like ‘hidden GST’
Easing trade barriers domestically would be beneficial to industry
Glacier FarmMedia – We spend a lot of time complaining about foreign trade barriers and defending our own barriers to foreign imports. But maybe there’s a closer way to liberalize agriculture trade. “It almost feels like we’ve forgotten to take care of business here at home,” said Jared Carlberg, a University of Manitoba agricultural economist […] Read more
Editorial: Inflation pressure not a surprise
There’s not much doubt that we’re into inflationary times with recently reported annual inflation of 4.4 per cent. That means additional risk for farmers to manage along with the supply chain challenges currently roiling the world and the usual headwinds that come with running a farm. The latest indicator that there’s inflation beyond what many […] Read more
Origins of the increase in food prices explored
Ontario’s agri-food industry can employ strategies to keep these in check
Inflation is a fact of life, but if you have been in a grocery store lately, you may have gotten the impression that it is hitting the food sector a bit harder than is typical. And you’d be correct. It started when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Canada. Added requirements to sanitize facilities and provide […] Read more
Canada economy seen weaker than expected as supply chain woes weigh
Ottawa | Reuters – The Canadian economy most likely underperformed expectations in the third quarter amid ongoing supply chain woes and a brutal drought, official data suggested on Friday, prompting analysts to forecast the Bank of Canada could move slower on rate hikes. The economy expanded by 0.4 percent in August, missing estimates, and looked […] Read more
Canada concerned about supply chain issues, watching ports ‘closely’
Reuters –– Canada is concerned about the challenges facing global supply chains and is watching the country’s ports very closely, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Thursday. Freeland, speaking to reporters in Washington after meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, said she was broadly optimistic about the strength of Canada’s economic recovery […] Read more
Changes in farm structure poses risk, requires policy
Average farm size an 'illusion.' Report shows that loss of medium-sized businesses creates a circular problem for larger farms
Large farms in Canada are growing in number at the expense of small and medium-sized farms, and at an accelerating pace, observes a new report. The issue is unlikely to be resolved by markets and competition among farmers alone and represents a new dimension for agri-food policy. So says a September 2021 policy paper published […] Read more