Agri-food supply chains in North America have become remarkably efficient, supplying an unprecedented variety of items at the lowest possible cost. However, the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and the near-total temporary loss of the foodservice distribution channel, exposed a vulnerability that many found surprising. Instead of continued shortages, however, the agri-food sector has since moved back to near normal conditions with prices and production levels similar to those typically observed in years prior to the pandemic. Ironically, the specialization in most food supply chains designed for “just-in-time” delivery to specific customers with no reserve capacity, which led to the initial disruptions, may have also been responsible for its rapid rebound. A common theme in assessing the impacts across the six commodities examined is the growing importance of understanding the whole supply chain. Over the longer term, a continuation of the pandemic could push the supply chain toward greater consolidation of firms and diversification of products given the increasing option value of maintaining flexibility. Other structural changes will be felt through input markets, most notably labour, as the trend toward greater automation will continue to accelerate as a response to meeting concerns about a consistent supply of healthy and productive workers. The economic fall out from the pandemic may lead to greater concentration in the sector as some firms are not able to survive the downturn and changes in consumer food buying behaviour, including movement toward online shopping and enhanced demand for attributes associated with resiliency, such as local. On the other hand, online shopping may provide opportunities for small producers and processors to shorten supply chains and reach customers directly. In the long term, COVID-19 impacts on global commerce and developing country production are more uncertain and could influence poverty reduction. While COVID-19's impacts on North American agriculture should have minimal effect on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through food prices, the ongoing global trends in trade and agribusiness accelerated by the pandemic are relevant for achievement of the SDGs.
The dairy and poultry sectors responded quickly to the initial adjustments in the quantity and nature of food products forced by the shuttering of the hospitality sector and the subsequent switch to buying food from grocery stores. In addition, these sectors were less affected by the labor availability and health issues from COVID-19 (coronavirus disease-2019) that plagued others, such as red meat processors. While the overall impacts were less than most other parts of the agrifood system, some elements of supply managed products, particularly poultry processors, have experienced a reduction in returns and are still adjusting to the new demand and supply situation. The extent of the impact is correlated with the degree to which the supply chain further upstream was connected to the downstream hospitality sector. RésuméLes secteurs du lait et de la volaille ont réagi rapidement aux ajustements initiaux en termes de quantité et de la nature des produits alimentaires imposés par la fermeture du secteur de l'hôtellerie et le passage subséquent à l'achat de produits alimentaires en épicerie. En outre, ces secteurs ont été moins touchés par la disponibilité de la main-d'oeuvre et les problèmes de santé liés à la COVID-19 comparativement à d'autres, comme les transformateurs de viande rouge. Bien que les impacts globaux aient été inférieurs à ceux de la plupart des autres éléments du système agroalimentaire, certains secteurs sous gestion de l'offre, en particulier les transformateurs de volaille, ont connu une réduction des rendements et s'adaptent toujours à la nouvelle situation de l'offre et de la demande. L'ampleur de l'impact est corrélée avec le niveau de dépendance entre la chaîne d'approvisionnement plus en amont et l'industrie hôtelière en aval. INTRODUCTIONA special issue of the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics (CJAE) in 2020 was initiated to explain the observed and potential impacts of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) on the whole agri-food supply chain in Canada (Ker and Cardwell 2020). Those impacts stemmed largely from the significant curtailment of hospitality services imposed by government restrictions and from the availability and health of labor, particularly for temporary foreign workers employed
Although precision agriculture (PA) is touted to enhance both farm returns and environmental quality, its perceived uptake is not as widespread as would be expected. The objective of this paper is to update and compare the adoption rates for precision agriculture technologies in Ontario. Geographic service technologies are the most adopted technology and showed an increase in adoption between 2017 and 2019. The survey was extended to include crop input suppliers across the country. Increasing adoption rates for PA technologies requires overcoming barriers, specifically reducing the cost and providing demonstrated value.
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