Disease Drought War Create Almost Perfect Storm of Economic Uncertainty

Apr 18, 2022

The General Manager of Manitoba Pork says the combined effects of African Swine Fever and COVID, last year's drought and now the invasion of Ukraine have created an almost perfect economic storm for pork producers. An article, to be distributed by Manitoba Pork though its newsletter and through Manitoba newspapers, looks at "Disease, Drought, and War, A Time of Volatility."

Cam Dahl, the General Manager of Manitoba Pork, says we're seeing large swings in what farmers get for their product and in input costs.

Clip-Cam Dahl-Manitoba Pork:

We saw the impact of COVID and, while Canadian producers and processors have weathered COVID really quite well, that isn't the case all over the world and so we're seeing markets disrupted in places like China for example, significant shortages in containers and we're seeing a disruption in the flow. What that means is that processors and shippers and exporters need to have more inventory just in case there are further disruptions so that comes with a cost.

Then we also have seen African Swine Fever that has had major disruptions in the world market. It's hitting Europe, has devastated the Chinese pork production. Some of that has supported prices in Canada but we're not quite sure how long that is going to last or how far ASF is going to spread so, again, significant uncertainty. Then, of course, the third factor is war. The Black Sea has become a significant supplier of cereal grains and feed grains.

16 percent of world corn exports came from Ukraine last year, almost 15 percent of world wheat exports came from Ukraine last year. Already we were seeing high prices that were caused by the drought in North America and those high prices are only going higher because of the impact on supply of the Ukrainian invasion, so really almost a perfect storm.

Source : Farmscape

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.