Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
This summer's drought is destroying crops in the south, but experts say it is still unclear what it will mean for Northern food prices.

This summer’s drought is destroying crops in the south, but experts say it is still unclear what it will mean for Northern food prices. - NNSL file photo

Farmers in the Midwestern United States and Ontario are facing a crisis due to this summer’s drought, which has decimated corn, hay and soy bean crops. Drought is also being blamed for crop failures in food producing areas of Russia and China. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Association, international corn prices went up 27 per cent in July and wheat prices jumped by 19 per cent. Food prices are expected to keep going up.

Farmers in Ontario are now asking the federal government to step in and provide disaster relief funding.

Since being contacted by News/North, Nellie Cournoyea, a member of the Nutrition North advisory board, said she has called retailers in the North to find out what the drought could mean for consumers.

“I’ve talked to a couple retailers and I asked, ‘do you know whether there is going to be a projected cost increase for certain items?’” she said. “They said they have not translated that yet.”

Cournoyea said though it isn’t yet known how much prices could increase, any rise in costs is eventually felt by the consumer.

“If the cost of fuel goes up and someone is running a store or a facility, the cost of the fuel is translated into the end product,” she said. “It’s always a rippling effect.”

Cournoyea said there has not been any discussion between the board and Nutrition North about ways to mitigate costs if they do increase.

Peter Johnson, a provincial cereal specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said while the drought in Canada is devastating for farmers, it will not have a significant impact on food prices.

“It matters to the Ontario producers, but in terms of global food prices, we’re a very small player,” he said.

It is the loss of crops in the United States that will affect the cost of food, he said.

“Indiana, Nebraska that U.S. Midwest corn belt is really the area that sets the price,” he said. “They produce more corn in one county in Iowa than all of Ontario put together.”

He said the drought will have a domino effect on a variety of foods. Farmers could end up culling more cattle than normal, which would drive down beef prices in the short term. However, that would leave less stock available for breeding the following spring, which would then drive up prices.

“Next year, that’s when the shortage happens,” he said. “It’s really a year out before you would see that impact.”

He said vegetables would take the hit this year.

“If there is an immediate impact, that’s where it would be,” he said.

Johnson also said it is important to remember how much of a particular crop goes into making a particular food product.

“I think you have to back up and say, ‘OK, what is the value of wheat in a loaf of bread versus what that bread costs,” he said.

“I think you have to be kind of realistic about the cost of the raw ingredients in a lot of those food products.”

Cournoyea said 80 per cent of all food in the North is transported from the south, so increases in the south means increases in the North.

“For us, it’s a bigger issue than just a drought related issue,” she said. “It’s the cost of transportation. It’s the cost of doing business.”

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.