Risk management in Canada's agricultural sector in light of COVID-19: Considerations one year later

Abstract

The unexpected introduction and spread of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has presented significant risks for every aspect of Canadian society, including the food and agricultural sector. The suite of Business Risk Management (BRM) programs, developed decades ago and without any thought to the possibility of a global pandemic, are meant to assist farmers in managing risks. This article discusses to what extent these BRM programs, and more broadly government programs, assisted farmers in managing risks brought on by the pandemic. Despite calls by industry for significant additional public funds, we find that COVID-19 exposed no significant gaps in BRM programming and therefore we see no reason for more funding to be funneled to the farm sector through BRM programming.