Despite remarkable greenhouse sales in 2020 – uncertainty lies in the year ahead

Jun 24, 2021

After the whirlwind that was 2020, the big question for Canada’s greenhouse sector is whether 2021, the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, will follow suit. Overall greenhouse sales rose 9.4% last year, with the main star fruits and vegetables. In 2021 however, producers may face some significant headwinds. Rising costs and a higher loonie may prevent a year of similar sales growth.

COVID’s boost to greenhouse revenues

In a year marked by the pandemic, greenhouse fresh vegetable receipts rose at their fastest pace since 2012 and for the eighth consecutive year, up 12.3% to $1.8 billion in 2020 (Figure 1). That came after a good year in 2019 when sales rose 5.0% to $1.6 billion. Once COVID hit, the fast pivot to alternative consumer avenues such as curbside pickup and online shopping helped push farm cash receipts up a whopping 19.8% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2020. It was a harbinger of things to come in Q2 and Q3.

With 23.9% growth in hectares between 2015 and 2020, greenhouse fruit and vegetable production capacity rose to 1,809 hectares last year. Production rose for peppers and cucumbers, two of the three fresh vegetables we produce on a large scale, while tomato production, the largest in terms of value and volume, dropped 3.2%. Tomatoes led in sales growth (12.1%), followed by cucumbers (+9.4%) and peppers (+7.3%), accounting for 92.5% of total sales.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.