Revisiting the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canada's agricultural trade: The surprising case of an agricultural export boom

Abstract

In contrast to April 2020 forecasts of the effects of the pandemic on Canada's agricultural trade, we find 1 year later that the recession was deeper, that total trade fell by less than was widely expected, and agricultural trade did not fall but actually increased. This was a general pattern across countries, but Canada's agricultural trade increased by at least 11%, more than the world aggregate and that of the U.S. This was mostly due to the success of crop exports, specifically in oilseeds, lentils, and cereals. Although some of the increase was due to rising commodity prices, for the most part trade volumes also increased substantially. Not only was Canada's export boom not expected but it was also not closely related to the pandemic. It was due to commodity-specific circumstances, such as China's rebuilding of its depleted hog herd, a short crop of lentils in India, and demand shifts to Canadian wheat, durum and barley. Increased Asian demand helped this export growth, but accounted for less than a third of it.