Outlook for Canada’s crop sectors challenged, but should hold steady for 2019

FCC Ag Economics is doing a mid-year check-in on our January 2019 Outlooks. Throughout July and August, we’ll update our expectations about profitability across seven Canadian ag sectors (dairy, broilers, red meat, food processing, agribusiness, horticulture and grains, oilseeds and pulses). We’ll describe what’s happened in 2019 to-date and what you should monitor in the next six months.

 

The outlook continues to improve for several Canadian crop sectors. There’s no change from our mixed January profitability forecast for grains: spring wheat continues to trend at roughly break-even or just above, while winter wheat margins will be pressured throughout the rest of the year. Corn margins are expected to be positive. Profitability of canola, soybeans and lentils should also remain near break-even.

 

Significant headwinds persist, however. Trade tensions between China and the U.S and market access challenges for Canadian crops remain the main hurdles to profitability. Growth in this year’s crop production will be required to make up for continued low prices expected for soybeans, pulses and canola. Prices for Canadian corn are highly variable right now, with U.S. supply a major uncertainty.

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.