Making Sense of Today's Volatile Markets

FCC Senior Economist JP Gervais discusses the recent trends and volatility in agricultural markets, and what farmers need to do to be successful.

Key Points

- Some factors contributing to recent agricultural market volatility include:
o the emergence of a middle class in developing countries with middle class food preferences, resulting in a greater demand for animal proteins, dairy products and feed grains
o worldwide population growth increasing the demand for food.
o the impact of the bio-fuels industry on feed grains

- Farmers must prepare to meet increased food demands -- according to the U.N. the world needs to increase food production by approximately 70 per cent in the next 40 years.

- Farmers will need to account for slower productivity gains year over year, climate change and the availability of fresh water.

- Canadian farmers are well-positioned to take advantage of all these trends -- farmers need to concentrate on boosting productivity and gaining access to emerging markets.

Learn More
• Ask an expert -- Commodity Marketing 101: How much knowledge is enough?
http://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/learningcentre/journal/stories/201101-6_e.asp

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