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There’s a Beast in the Economy Right Now Named Inflation

2023 might face a difficult outlook, but seeds are in a good place.

There’s a beast that our economy is currently battling. The battle started in 2022, but it doesn’t look like this monster attempting to wreak havoc is ready to leave: inflation.

Inflation is currently at levels we’ve not seen in the United States or around the world in over 40 years, according to Dan Basse, president and economist at AgResource.

“Gone are the days of low-interest rates,” he says in his presentation at the American Seed Trade Association’s CSS & Seed Expo 2022. “Gone are the days we’ll have employees come knocking on our door. Cheap labor around China and in the U.S. has left us — so as we think about this reset, I want you to think about your investments. Think about the world ahead and how this fits into the picture of dollars and where the world sits today.”

Think about what the U.S. — and the globe — have faced within the last few years. In addition to a global health pandemic, supply chains have yet to recover. Drought and heat are becoming more of an issue as temperatures rise. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, causing issues within the global grain trade. Inflation has been a major issue, along with rising interest rates, high gas and diesel prices and threats of protest on the railways.

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Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

Video: Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

When was the last time you read the label on your honey?

We spent a day at Molenkamp Honey Farms with Michael Molenkamp, who has been keeping bees for 17 seasons and runs three to four thousand hives. In mid-September, he was finishing treatments and getting his bees ready for winter, and he walked us through how Alberta honey gets made.

Alberta has just 150 commercial beekeepers running 300,000 colonies, and together they produce 40% of Canada’s honey. Long summer days and golden canola fields give Alberta honey a light flavour that’s hard to match anywhere else.

Molenkamp calls Alberta beekeepers some of the most resilient farmers he knows. There’s plenty of Alberta honey to go around, but a lot on our shelves isn’t from here, so his ask is simple. Give the label a second look and choose honey made by Alberta beekeepers, or buy straight from a beekeeper near you.