Dalhousie Professor Says Oil Price War Impacting Farmers

The recent drop in oil prices will impact the entire agri-food market.

 

That from Dalhousie University Professor Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.

 

"As soon as oil actually suffers, it does have an impact on everything else at farmgate," he said. "You can see right now, grains, livestock, they're all struggling. Many farmers were expecting a good year but everything is in limbo."

 

He talked about what impact the COVID-19 pandemic and oil price war could have on food prices.

 

"Conditions are favourable to a decrease in food inflation, but the Canadian dollar remains the wildcard and right now the Canadian dollar is just being pounded by markets as a result of what's happening with oil prices. In a few days, or perhaps in a week from now, food importers may have to pay way more for produce and grocery items that are processed outside our borders. Eventually, food distributors, grocers, would have to pass on extra costs to consumers."

 

Charlebois says the next few weeks and how we handle this situation will be critical.

Video: Seed Storage: Protecting Quality from Harvest to Planting

Protecting seed quality starts in the field and continues through storage until planting — that was the focus of the Spud Smart–NAPSO webinar with Leroy Salazar, Amanda Wakasugi and Bill Crowder. Speakers stressed that vine kill timing, harvest conditions (soil moisture, pulp temperature), and minimizing mechanical damage set the stage for successful storage; modern buildings, calibrated sensors, VFD-controlled airflow,

rapid field-heat removal, and tight temperature uniformity then preserve seed quality. Ongoing monitoring for hot spots, condensation and early issues, plus sanitation and variety-specific handling, keep losses low and seed viable for shipping or cutting.