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The impact of COVID‐19 on the grains and oilseeds sector: 12 months later
Author(s) -
Brewin Derek Gerald
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
canadian journal of agricultural economics/revue canadienne d'agroeconomie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.505
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1744-7976
pISSN - 0008-3976
DOI - 10.1111/cjag.12281
Subject(s) - pace , agricultural economics , production (economics) , economics , covid-19 , business , international economics , international trade , geography , medicine , disease , geodesy , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , macroeconomics
Brewin (2020) was optimistic about the fate of the Canadian grains and oilseeds sector in 2020 as the COVID‐19 pandemic descended on the world. The sector did generate a large crop and, towards the end of 2020, saw a lift in prices. This contributed to record farm income in Canada in 2020. The pace of grain and oilseed exports in Canada and ethanol demand in the east were affected by COVID‐19, but the forecast of a “near normal” 2020 was relatively accurate. Production and prices stayed on track, largely because the world did not impose significant new barriers to trade in cereals and oilseeds and because these sectors have distanced labor in virtually every step of the supply chain which protected these markets from this pandemic. The dominant price factor for the sector remains global demand that had been growing before 2020 relative to the pace of production and may have been stimulated by deficit budgets around the world. Compared to the tight global stocks, COVID‐19 had a minor impact on grain prices which led to steady production worldwide and in Canada. We are still waiting for more evidence to assess the role of federal coordination in the success of the grains and oilseed sector in 2020, but Canada's past participation in trade and safety protocols based on science allowed the grains and oilseed sector in Canada to earn a very good income in 2020.