By Dori Modney with files from FCC

2020 provided strong agriculture and food exports, according to Farm Credit Canada

Nov 2, 2021 | 3:21 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB. — In spite of challenges, including a global contraction in agricultural exports, Farm Credit Canada`s (FCC) latest trade report found 2020 to be a relatively good year.

J.P. Gervais, FCC`s chief economist, points out some of the challenges.

“The value of the Canadian dollar is always a big factor in determining our trade competitiveness and access to markets can sometimes be rocked by geopolitical tensions or supply chain disruptions, such as we’ve seen with the pandemic.”

Gervais noted Canada`s agriculture and food industry has shown resilience and has “the potential to emerge from this pandemic even stronger, as our producers, agriculture manufacturers and food processors begin to recover from the disruption caused by the pandemic.”

The 2020 report presented Canada as having the highest year-over-year increase for agriculture commodity exports at 13.8 per cent, while all agriculture exporting countries combined saw commodity exports contract by nine per cent, largely due to the impact of pandemic throughout most of 2020.

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As well, with 5.5 per cent of the world’s total commodity exports, Canada was the world’s fifth-largest exporter, a position it has held since 2012. The U.S. continued as the world’s largest supplier of commodities, followed by Netherlands, China and Brazil. Canada improved in this area since 2011, becoming the eleventh largest food exporter. The United States has maintained its leading role since 2012, followed by Germany, Netherlands, France, Brazil, Italy, China, Belgium, Spain and Indonesia.

Canada`s total food exports in 2020 weren’t as badly hit by pandemic disruptions and only declined by 3.7 per cent.

The largest portion of Canadian food exports is meat, which accounts for about 13.4 per cent of total food exports, particularly with an increased share in pork markets.

When in comes to agriculture commodities, Canada remains among the top three wheat exporters in the world, which is where it`s been for the last 10 years. Also, oilseeds make up 32.2 per cent of total Canadian ag exports, with cereals at 28 per cent and wheat, Canada’s largest export, accounting for 80.9 per cent of total cereal exports in 2020.

More information and insights into trade and its impact on Canadian agriculture, visit the fcc.ca/Economics.

For a closer look at Canada’s food and beverage industry, check out FCC’s mid-year update.