As we start the new year amid elevated inflation and major headwinds facing the economy, here are our top charts to help make sense of the economic environment for farm operations, agribusinesses and food processors.
Tag Archives Economics
FCC’s top economic charts to monitor in 2024
Downward trends for cattle, swine herds; positive bent to feed, fertilizer affordability
Volatile oil market most likely to improve says analyst
Israel-Gaza war, Red Sea attacks having less impact than expected
As the global oil market continued to ready itself for 2024, one analyst stated it’s more likely prices will increase than to drop further. Phil Flynn of the Price Futures Group in Chicago said one’s outlook on crude oil is predicated on their economic view.
Alberta potatoes chip in $2.9 billion for Canadian economy
New report verifies what many in industry suspected
Alberta’s potato industry is making a big impact — not just on that province but the entire country. A new report — dubbed a “landmark study” by the Potato Growers of Alberta — revealed the sector drove a total contribution of $2.87 billion to Canada’s economy in 2022. It also notes the nationwide creation of
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
Opinion: A broken system
Supply chain fragility reveals overall economic fragility of globalization
One of the most beautiful – and inexplicable – aspects of economics is how its practitioners never seem to be wrong. Indeed, almost every school of economic thought, from John Maynard Keynes’ demand-driven economics on the left to Arthur Laffer’s supply-side economics on the right, is crowded with disciples defending their leader’s theories and just
Comment: Global economy hit by severest shock since 1930s
Fast policy response necessary to reduce impact of secondary rounds
Reuters – Recessions often start with a small drop in activity which then progressively deepens over subsequent months as the second- and higher-round effects on the economy start to occur. But the current business cycle downturn looks very different. In terms of its scale and sudden onset, there is no parallel since the end of
Editorial: Shedding light on the heated debate of grain freight rates
One of the most heated farm policy debates of late has been over the fate of the maximum revenue entitlement (MRE) keeping a lid on grain freight rates. In the debate that emerged from the abysmal railway performance through the winter of 2013-14, axing the MRE has increasingly been portrayed as a quid pro quo
Ritz optimistic for TPP
Canada says it has put offers on the TPP table, while the U.S. continues to disagree
Canada’s agriculture minister says Canada won’t negotiate in public when it comes to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the proposed wide-ranging free trade agreement among a group of Pacific Rim countries. Responding to questions at an unrelated event in Winnipeg last week, Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Gerry Ritz said Canada has put forward strong proposals regarding
MASC explains why sometimes it defers hail claims
Assessing loss is easier when the crop is still young or has set seed and harder in between those two stages
As this summer’s hail claims roll in, the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation’s assessment practices are being questioned by farmers who say the agency is too slow to cut a cheque. (MASC) says its spot loss hail insurance program is similar to what private hail insurance companies offer. But at least one Manitoba farmer disputes that
Canada needs a different tact in international trade
Instead of defending supply management it needs to attack competitors’ subsidies
Supply management polarizes opinions: defend the status quo or dismantle the system. Unfortunately, this masks important strategic choices with implications for the dairy industry and, by extension, Canada’s agri-food sector as a whole. Canada’s internal debate keeps the country on a defensive footing. It is time to get offensive by focusing on other countries’ agricultural
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