Non-Traditional Factors Impacting Grain Markets

There are a number of non-traditional factors at play in the grain markets which is causing a lot of volatility for the agriculture sector.

Jon Driedger, vice-president of LeftField Commodity Research, says external influences have an enormous impact like the coronavirus and its impact, and of course the ongoing trade challenges globally.

"It doesn't mean that the world will just stop trading tomorrow but certainly there's less of an appetite towards more free open trade and more of a tendency towards putting on tariffs, protecting the domestic markets and so forth," he said. "Agriculture is an exporting industry, particularly for us in western Canada, so certainly we feel that."

Canada has a number of ongoing challenges including the dispute with China over canola and with India over pulses.

He notes it’s a larger global trend with Brexit or the trade war between the U.S. and China.