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.

“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.