At the heart of the agriculture industry are coffee shops where farmers gather to chat. I believe the unwritten rule is to start every meeting with a discussion about the weather. There is a reason for that. While there are many factors, the weather plays a large part in the success of the agriculture industry, and Canada’s agriculture industry is susceptible to climate change. The earth is warming, and many experts agree that we will continue to see more extreme weather events and warmer temperatures. The Aquanomics model by GHD, a global engineering and architecture service firm, projects a loss of $108 billion to the Canadian GDP from 2022 to 2050 caused by droughts, floods, and storms. Flooding could cost the economy $30 billion by 2050. The model predicts that manufacturing and distribution will be the hardest hit at $50 billion in total output losses, with agriculture 5th on the list at $3 billion in output losses by 2050. Regardless of the economic impact, the agriculture indust
US soybean acres and farmgate prices could suffer in the event of another trade war with China, according to new research from Rabobank. A renewed trade war would potentially lower US farmgate prices by US$1.50 to $2/bu and reduce American soybean planted area by up to 5 million acres, the research shows. With current US farmgate soybean prices already weak, now hovering around $10/bu or below, the worst-case scenario could drag values down to near their mid-2019 low of about $8 during the first trade war. Meanwhile, a loss of 5 million acres from the 87.1 million planted to soybeans in 2024 would represent a fall of about 6%. If accurate, that would be a much more modest fall than in 2019, when planted area tumbled more than 13 million acres or 14.6% from the previous year to 76.1 million. US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to ratchet up tariffs on imports from China after he takes office on Jan. 20, suggesting amounts ranging anywhere from 10% to 100%. Rabobank said
Saskatchewan continued on the path to recovery as another year saw conditions remain closer to normal following the droughts earlier this decade. The ag sector is hoping to see more progress on that with a good snowpack over winter helping to balance that moisture deficit. Daryl Harrison, Saskatchewan's Minister of Agriculture, talks about the province's economic fortunes over 2024. "I think more moisture-wise, some of our dryer pockets have seen some more moisture and our drought area certainly shrunk. There's certainly dry areas remaining out there and with our snowpack that we've received so far this winter, I think it's very optimistic that we're seeing the drought years behind us. We still need some spring rains to help enhance both the grass and hayland, but also prepare for spring seeding." Harrison himself farms in the southeast corner and says he saw a great year in that area. "Crop wise it was a great year, I thought cops across the board were generally average to above.
The Liberals usually viewed ag through different portfolios
Brock University is the newest Knowledge and Development partner to join Bioenterprise through Canada’s Food & Agri-Tech Engine. The addition of Brock will expand the capacity of the Engine’s growing national network of advisors, resources and mentors to support innovation, collaboration and technology for agri-food start-up businesses and entrepreneurs.
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