COVID-19 Creates Erratic Difficult to Manage Consumer Demand

The Research Lead with Agri-Food Economic Systems says the surge in consumer demand at the grocery store as the result of COVID-19 has created a difficult to manage situation. An Agri-Food Economic Systems Independent Agri-Food Policy Note examines the roles of government and industry in managing the challenges caused by COVID-19.

 

Dr. Al Mussell, the Research Lead with Agri-Food Economic Systems, says this is an unprecedented situation.

 

 

These surges in demand at the grocery store are difficult to handle all through the supply chain. They create sharp increases in demand. But, at some point as people lock themselves down in their homes, they’re going to have fewer trips to the grocery store.

 

That'll then, you would think, begin to dampen demand or, more than anything else, as people buy forward, eventually they've got enough and they slow down their buying. The other one I would mention and bring into this that is of concern for us, particularly in western Canada but elsewhere as well, is exports. One of the things that happens is, as you get absenteeism, that comes into your logistics system, your trucking, your dock workers, everybody involved in the administration of imports and exports.

 

The other thing we have to worry about a little bit is we import quite a lot of product. That's everything from coffee, tea, orange juice, the food products as well as a good deal of feed ingredients, pesticide products. We worry about the logistics there but then there is also a sense that countries that export those products will begin to think a little but that they need to feed themselves or supply themselves first.

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.