The production of biofuels is limited in Canada, but the availability of wheat straw as a second-generation (i.e., cellulosic) feedstock is an exciting prospect for the future development of a biofuel industry. The future success of such a biofuel industry will depend on future ethanol prices and prices related to wheat straw. These prices are likely to be influenced by markets related to the existing

The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of research and development (R&D) investment on the export performance of Canadian agrifood small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and on that of related sectors, namely, the textile and clothing sector and the manufacture of leather goods and similar products. First, we analyzed explanatory factors for R&D expenses, and then, we analyzed the

The adoption of improved crop varieties, such as drought-tolerant varieties, plays a crucial role in addressing climate change. In this study, we explore how and to what extent spatial interactions between farmers and neighboring farmers affect the adoption of drought-tolerant wheat varieties (DTWVs), using data collected from rural households in China. A spatial Durbin probit model is utilized to

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to cause significant economic hardship and death throughout the world. While governments have many concerns, an affordable and secure food supply remains a top priority. Based on years of a consumer-driven food system, Canadians have come to expect any food in the form, time, and location desired, always available at a reasonable price. Although

This paper assesses the earlier projections made by the authors in March 2020 about the impact of COVID-19 on Canada's food security. First, as measured in the early part of the second quarter of 2020, COVID-19 is associated with an increased prevalence of household food insecurity as measured by Statistics Canada. Also, as we predicted, we did not observe a rapid general increase in food prices that

COVID-19 continues to impose a series of unique challenges on the food retail and food service sectors in Canada. In May 2020, the expectation was that the public health crisis shutdowns of the restaurant sector would be temporary. Although we may still be in a much longer temporary than was originally envisaged, it is becoming clearer that permanent restructuring may also have happened. Grocery stores

In this paper, I explore the economic activities of the food processing industry during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. One of the key lessons from food processing and related industries is that without being designated as an essential service and targeted stimulus packages, the food industry could have fallen victim to the COVID-19 crisis. Although the social and economic impacts

A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper reflects on the changes that occurred in agrifood supply chains in Canada and the United States. The sudden shift in food consumption patterns from food service to food retail required realignment of food supply chains. For the most part, food supply chains have performed remarkably well during the pandemic. Cross-border food supply chains have continued

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

More than 1 year after the outbreak of COVID-19, Canadian fruit and vegetable markets continue to adjust to the evolving landscape. In this article, we focus on three key measures of input and output market performance that serve as indicators of the stability of fruit and vegetable markets in Canada in the medium-term, and offer some insight for how these markets will continue to adjust in the longer

The dairy and poultry sectors responded quickly to the initial adjustments in the quantity and nature of food products forced by the shuttering of the hospitality sector and the subsequent switch to buying food from grocery stores. In addition, these sectors were less affected by the labor availability and health issues from COVID-19 (coronavirus disease-2019) that plagued others, such as red meat

While COVID-19 had the potential to be extremely disruptive to the Canadian pork supply chain, the sector showed resiliency by adjusting to market changes to ensure industry continuation. Unlike other non-agricultural firms that were mandated to close at times, the pork sector was deemed an essential service and allowed to continue operating throughout the pandemic. Evidence of this resiliency is seen

After a year of adjusting to the shocks associated with COVID-19 the Canadian cattle and beef sector faces a relatively optimistic future. This note examines the past year for this supply chain from the perspective of the consumer up to the cow-calf producer by considering consumer reactions, labor market constraints, and supply responses. In the second quarter of 2020, the sector faced a significant

This article briefly outlines the agrifood market and policy situation in the United States after 1 year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Agrifood markets suffered initial disruptions from both supply-side and demand-side shocks but significant adjustments by farmers, processors, distributors, and government kept these relatively shorty-lived. Substantial support has been provided to farmers as part of $5

In contrast to April 2020 forecasts of the effects of the pandemic on Canada's agricultural trade, we find 1 year later that the recession was deeper, that total trade fell by less than was widely expected, and agricultural trade did not fall but actually increased. This was a general pattern across countries, but Canada's agricultural trade increased by at least 11%, more than the world aggregate

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) initiated shocks to the Canadian agri-food industry moving the sector away from its prepandemic equilibrium. Disequilibrium can mean, postshock, that sectors follow different paths of adjustment. The public and politicians appear to desire that economic activity returns to prepandemic norms—but this is far from assured. In the case of the Canadian agri-food industry

Canada's unemployment rate increased rapidly in the spring of 2020 in response to strict public health measures. Low-wage workers were hit particularly hard, including restaurant workers. The production and distribution of food being essential and agri-food supply chains being resilient, other workers in the agri-food sector were less impacted by public health measures and the pandemic. Employment

One year into the largest economic and health event of the past 70 years, this paper considers how agricultural supply chains and agricultural transportation have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Written as an update to Gray (2020), we are able to show that agricultural transportation systems have proven to be extremely robust and were able to innovate in real-time to address challenges in the

Early evidence suggests that Canadian farmland values increased in 2020. Farming returns were not negatively impacted by COVID-19 and it appears as though farming returns will be strong into 2021. Low interest rates in 2020 contributed to substantial farmland value increases in the last half of 2020. There is some evidence that the development component of farmland values increased in 2020. The future

The unexpected introduction and spread of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has presented significant risks for every aspect of Canadian society, including the food and agricultural sector. The suite of Business Risk Management (BRM) programs, developed decades ago and without any thought to the possibility of a global pandemic, are meant to assist farmers in managing risks. This article discusses

Based on official survey data from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs collected in 2010 and 2015, we use the difference‐in‐differences method to study how the Chinese land titling reform beginning in 2009 in tiers (“the Reform”) affected the demand, supply, access, and rationing on the Chinese rural credit market. Our main findings are: (1) the Reform increased households’ hidden

We define the boundary of a livestock farm in terms of corn production as the percentage of homegrown corn in total corn required. A new theoretical model is proposed that explains how farm boundaries are shaped by the relative efficiency of two alternative transaction‐facilitating mechanisms: market and hierarchy. Using tax filer data from swine farms in Ontario, this article analyzes the impact that

Policymakers are increasingly relying on computable general equilibrium (CGE) models to provide economy‐wide impacts of trade agreements; however, these assessments often make the simplifying assumption of complete bilateral tariff elimination. But agreements typically involve partial tariff elimination for sensitive sectors—which are often differentiated at the tariff line. As such, applying a uniform

President Biden was sworn in on January 20, 2021 after a 4‐year term by President Trump. Certainly, Trump's norm breaking presidency impacted Canada in significant ways and the agricultural sector was no exception. In this issue, we have a set of four short articles discussing the possible implications on Canadian agriculture of transitioning from a Trump to Biden presidency. Issues related to Canada‐U

The 4 years of the Trump administration was marked by a number of events and policies that affected the Canadian agrifood sector. Changes to preferential trade agreements, the collapse of the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement framework, increased domestic support for US farmers, and diplomatic tensions between the United States and China all shaped international trade flows and created

A well‐functioning trade relationship between Canada and the United States is crucial to the economic vitality of the Canadian agri‐food industry. However, agri‐food trade is more susceptible than other sectors to political interventions. The Trump presidency has strained Canada–US relations and his trade policy actions have significantly increased trade restrictions and trade policy uncertainty and

During the Trump administration, there has been an unprecedented increase in the level of domestic support provided to US agricultural producers. Direct farm supports, including price and income support payments, federal crop insurance, and supplemental assistance to compensate losses due to the trade war with China and the pandemic, have accounted for more than one‐third of net farm income. Those

Canadian agricultural trade has experienced several volatile periods over the past 15 years. The Great Recession (2007–2009), the 2015–2016 global trade slowdown, unilateral policy actions by the United States against key trade allies and the multilateral system more generally, and the impacts of the Covid‐19 pandemic are among the most significant events during this period. Given the close integration

Contract farming can be an effective measure to deal with agricultural production risks. This study provides a two‐stage stochastic programming model to analyze farmers’ cooperation in the context of contract farming under uncertainty. It provides a fair cost allocation policy for a coalition of farmers using a stochastic linear duality approach. A fair cost allocation implies that no subset of farmers

Global aquaculture markets have experienced a great deal of recent success. However, growers are still highly susceptible to risks caused by seasonality, interannual variability in earnings, and environmental factors. As a result, we see growers turning to alternative sources of income, and participating in off‐farm labor. We utilize a series of zero‐inflated count models to examine the relationship

The Canadian agricultural economics profession, like much of society, is faced with the important challenge of how to effectively achieve aspirational goals of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). I argue that the Canadian agricultural economics society (CAES) will benefit from integrating EDI into our core mission and key activities. I focus on a select set of issues that I believe will further

Food waste has drawn increasing public attention, and the high levels of estimated waste are largely considered to be a failure of our current food system. Recently, economists have begun to weigh in, showing food waste can emerge as the result of a complex equilibrium affected by consumers’ preferences for convenience; expectations about future food prices and availability; food safety concerns; producers’

The Canadian Arctic is a unique food producing region. Much of the food produced in the Canadian Arctic has a strong tie with Indigenous cultures and communities, is produced or harvested in a pristine environment, and features species not commonly consumed in other parts of Canada. Building upon previous work and using data from a survey of Canadian consumers featuring a discrete choice experiment

This study examines consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for organic wheat products exhibiting single labels, as well as multiple labels, including organic. The additional labels considered are related to the organic label (non‐genetically modified organism [non‐GMO]) or perceived as health‐promoting (gluten‐free, low‐carb, sugar‐free). Study data were collected using a consumer survey

This study examines preferences for local foods by two distinct consumer groups: local residents and tourists. In an incentive‐compatible framed field experiment, a series of dichotomous‐choice tasks involving oyster purchases were completed by 758 individuals: 341 local residents recruited at a Division of Motor Vehicles office and 417 tourists recruited at a beach ferry terminal. The experimental

Obtaining a Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) certificate provides horticultural institutions the exclusive right to produce and reproduce new varieties, which directly motivate new plant variety innovations. This study investigates how the grant and surrender lag of PBR certificates is influenced by the crop type and applicant characteristics using the Canadian Food Inspection Agency horticultural crop

This paper assesses the distributional consequences of technical changes that improve the efficiency of land and of other inputs in a multifactor crop‐production system. We introduced an equilibrium displacement model (EDM) by using the specification of a factor‐augmenting approach. Given the uncertainty about the EDM parameters, a Monte Carlo simulation is used to produce a distribution of possible

In March 2019, China revoked the canola export licenses of two major Canadian exporters. We estimate the impact of these restrictions on Canadian canola prices. Using a vector error correction model to generate counterfactual prices, we estimate that between March 2019 and February 2020 canola prices were 3.6% lower than would have been expected in the absence of the import restrictions. We discuss

In the wake of the substantial increases in farmland values that have occurred in Ontario since 2008, concerns have been expressed regarding the potential influence of nonfarmer buyers, such as investment companies and foreign buyers, on prices paid for farmland. To examine whether these concerns may be warranted, this paper estimates the impact of nonfarmer buyers on sale prices for farmland in Ontario

With the deep recession now forecast for the world economy, trade can be expected to fall even more steeply. Agricultural trade will be less significantly affected, being insulated by its relatively low income elasticities of demand. However, a drop in the range of 12%–20% in real trade value should be expected. Canada can be expected to share in this, but, within agricultural exports, cereals will

Canada and the United States have strong economic ties and form part of an integrated North American pork industry. Canada's pork industry is export‐oriented, and the United States represents a key market for both live pigs and pork. Pork value chain stakeholders include input suppliers, pig producers, transportation companies, slaughter plants, wholesalers, and retailers. There are three overriding

This paper examines managerial corruption in cooperatives (co‐ops) and investor‐owned firms (IOFs), including its impact on prices and farmer welfare. Even when co‐op managers have greater incentives to engage in corruption because of the co‐op's larger production, the resulting corruption is not sufficient to offset the competitive effect that co‐ops exert vis‐à‐vis IOFs. This conclusion holds regardless

The COVID‐19 pandemic has prompted Canada and several other countries to impose an economic shutdown to prevent a deadly public health crisis from becoming much deadlier. In the agriculture and food sector, several hundred thousand restaurant workers have lost their jobs. The rise in unemployment, the closing of restaurants and schools, and social distancing have triggered demand reductions for certain

Canada's cattle/beef sector has already weathered a shock after a 2003 case of BSE resulted in closed borders and industry restructuring. Now, the sector has to adjust to similar shocks due to COVID‐19. This paper examines the supply chain from the consumer up to the cow–calf producer by considering consumer reactions, labor market constraints, and supply response. A quarterly market model of North

While downstream distribution and demand is likely to be hampered by the labor and income effects of COVID‐19, Canada is expected to produce over 88 million tons of grains and oilseeds in 2020. Canadians have valid concerns about delays related to their changing needs as millions move their purchases from food services to retail groceries, but they should not worry about our overall supply of calories

The COVID‐19 pandemic has put unprecedented strain on food supply chains. Given the ever‐increasing degree of globalization, those supply chains very often stretch across international borders. In the short run, countries have largely been working to keep those supply chains intact and operating efficiently so that panic buying is cooled and shifts in consumption habits arising from personal isolation

In 2017, the federal government initiated national consultations for two new crop royalty systems that could be used to support additional crop breeding. In this study, we examine wheat growers’ attitudes towards breeding research and assess their inclination to contribute more to wheat variety development through checkoffs or enhanced royalties. We report a random effect probit estimation for a survey

This study investigates the impact of the land rental market on labor productivity in rural China. Particular attention is given to farm and nonfarm labor productivity. Using 2012 household‐level data and a multinomial endogenous switching treatment regression technique, we find that rural households renting in farmland increased labor productivity in the farm sector by about 55%, whereas labor productivity

Canadian fruit and vegetable markets were significantly impacted by the spread of the novel coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 (and COVID‐19 disease), beginning in March 2020. Due to the closure of restaurants, bars, and schools, produce growers and distributors were forced to shift supplies almost entirely from the foodservice to the retail channel. Shippers reported labor and logistical constraints in making

Evidence from the past 50 years suggests that changes in Canadian farmland values are influenced by farming returns, real interest rates, and exchange rates. Residential and commercial development also affects the value of farmland close to major urban centers. The COVID‐19 economic shutdown is expected to reduce crop and livestock returns, which will put downward pressure on farmland values. The magnitude

The unexpected introduction and spread of COVID‐19 has presented significant challenges for every aspect of Canadian society. Although the food and agricultural sector is positioned better than most, there are many risks that will need to be managed in the coming months. The suite of Federal‐Provincial‐Territorial Business Risk Management (BRM) programs delivered under the Canadian Agricultural Policy

In this paper, I explore the potential effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on Canadian food processors. First, COVID‐19 may have an impact on food processing economic activities because of supply and demand shocks. Second, the impact of COVID‐19 on food processing may depend on the type of products and the size of the processors. The effects of measures taken by the government to flatten the epidemiological

In this paper I explore several issues related to how the COVID‐19 pandemic might impact consumer demand for food. These impacts relate to the structure of preferences in the context of a pandemic, income and time constraints, and price effects. Discussion includes accounting for differential impacts of COVID‐19 on demand for food across sociodemographic characteristics, and several high‐level issues

COVID‐19 has imposed a series of unique challenges on the food retail and food service sectors in Canada. Almost overnight, the roughly 30% of the food dollar that Canadians have been spending on food away from home has shifted to retail.

The dumping of milk, the offering of hospitality size goods in grocery stores, and the closure of processing facilities are examples of the disruptions caused by the pandemic to the dairy, poultry, and egg sectors. These supply management sectors, however, are more resilient to the impacts of COVID‐19 than other sectors as producers are generally more financially stable, losses are pooled, and production/marketing

In this short paper, I assess how COVID‐19‐related disruptions in transportation services, as well as new demands for transportation services, could impact Canadian agricultural supply chains. The brief analysis reveals that agricultural access to bulk ocean freight, rail movement, and trucking has generally improved in the pandemic, bolstered by the reduced demand for these transportation services

This paper provides an early assessment of the implications of the COVID‐19 pandemic for food supply chains and supply chain resilience. The effects of demand‐side shocks on food supply chains are discussed, including consumer panic buying behaviors with respect to key items, and the sudden change in consumption patterns away from the food service sector to meals prepared and consumed at home. Potential

This article assesses the resilience of the North American food system in the context of the coronavirus pandemic in the immediate, medium, and long run. Focus is on the United States. The immediate consequence is substantial disruption of agricultural markets and falling prices, but systemic breakdown of the system is unlikely. Existing farm programs and emergency legislation will support U.S. farmers

The COVID‐19 pandemic11 Financial support to cover both page charges and technical editing was provided by the following: (i) Canadian Agricultural Economics Society; (ii) Food and Resource Economics Group, The University of British Columbia; (iii) Masters of Food and Resource Economics (MFRE) Program, The University of British Columbia; (iv) Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University

The effect of COVID‐19 on Canadian food security is examined from two different perspectives. COVID‐19 creates a unique “income shock” that is expected to increase the prevalence of household food insecurity. This food insecurity can be measured by utilizing the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). More fundamentally, COVID‐19 heightens household concern about the capacity of the Canadian food