KAP seminar to give lay of post-COVID economic land

ECONOMY: There’s much to tell farmers about a global recession, but there’s also room for optimism, FCC’s Marty Seymour says

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Published: July 3, 2020

File photo of a sunflower crop in Manitoba. (MysticEnergy/Getty Images)

An upcoming webinar aims to make sense of the economic and agricultural landscape as the world continues to grapple with COVID-19.

On July 7, FCC chief economic J.P. Gervais and Marty Seymour, FCC’s director of industry relations, will team up with Keystone Agricultural Producers to present a webinar titled “Adjust your business for success in our new economic situation.”

They’ll cover, “the current operating environment that we’re in, and here’s some of the headwinds and the opportunities,” Seymour told the Co-operator.

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“We’re generally optimistic,” he added. “We think that there’s lots of upside in agri-food moving forward.”

Topic will include trends in grains, oilseeds, cattle and hogs, and land values. Seymour said he and Gervais plan to speak on the mixed signals in the health of the world economy.

“From an economist standpoint, clearly there’s a lot to talk about global recession,” he said. While Canada is expected to see a significant drop in GDP, Southeast Asian countries like China and South Korea have had a less drastic decrease in GDP.

This could provide opportunities for Canadian trade, Seymour said.

He and Gervais will also speak on leading indicators of an economic rebound, Seymour said. For instance, as more people return to work, more cars are on the road. This increases ethanol production, and all the needs related to that.

Seymour said he’ll also touch on the food industry and the disruptions it saw as food services shut down.

He said that while food buying habits and grocery choices have changed, demand for food hasn’t receded.

“We still have to consume 2,000 calories a day,” said Seymour. “This is different than tourism, air travel… clearly we will have to eat.”

Visit KAP.ca for more information or to register.

About the author

Geralyn Wichers

Geralyn Wichers

Digital editor, news and national affairs

Geralyn graduated from Red River College's Creative Communications program in 2019 and launched directly into agricultural journalism with the Manitoba Co-operator. Her enterprising, colourful reporting has earned awards such as the Dick Beamish award for current affairs feature writing and a Canadian Online Publishing Award, and in 2023 she represented Canada in the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists' Alltech Young Leaders Program. Geralyn is a co-host of the Armchair Anabaptist podcast, cat lover, and thrift store connoisseur.

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