Providing independent, credible, and timely policy analysis with respect to socially significant food and agricultural issues.
About The Institute
The Institute for the Advanced Study of Food and Agricultural Policy is housed within the Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics, OAC, University of Guelph. Professor Alan Ker is the Director.
The mission of the Institute is to attract and educate competent students to food and agricultural economics. In addition, we provide independent, credible, and timely policy analysis with respect to socially significant food and agricultural issues. To that end, we host and co-host policy conferences, support FARETalk (podcast), support FAREShare (newsletter), provide commodity price forecasting, house efficiency benchmarking tools for producers, and finally develop and maintain commodity market models for "what if" policy analysis.
FARE Talk
The FARE Talk initiative is the brainchild of Professor Deaton, where he interviews top scholars about issues of significant public interest.
FARE Share Newsletter
The FARE Share Newsletter's mission is to provide independent, credible, & timely policy analysis with respect to socially significant food & agricultural issues. FAREShare is edited by Professor Getu Hailu.
Read the Latest Newsletter
To sign up to receive future issues of this Newsletter please contact Debbie Harkies (dharkies@uoguelph.ca)
In The News
- "Risk Warning: Inside the campaign to get better risk management programs for Canada's farmers", Country Guide, January, 2018.
- Dr. Brady Deaton presents "Land and Water: Issues and Approaches in Canada, First Nations, and Abroad" at the University of Manitoba. October 25, 2017
- Dr. Alan Ker is covered in "NAFTA talks: Seeing the benefits through the bluster" National Post. September 26, 2017
- Dr. Alan Ker shares his views in "NAFTA talks: Seeing the benefits through the bluster" The Conversation. September 25, 2017
- Dr. Alan Ker is interviewed in "Terminating NAFTA Highly Unlikely: U of G Prof" University Of Guelph. September 15, 2017
- Dr. Alan Ker is interviewed in "Volatile times — how innovation and climate change impact risk management programs" Real Agriculture. June 6, 2017
- Dr. Keith Coble, who spoke at the Big Data, Changing Climate and Agriculture conference was featured in "Greig: Farmer trust key to big data's future" Grainews. May 29, 2017
- Professor Alan Ker's comments can be seen on page 12 in the article "Ag Policy Seen As Bigger Risk Than Farm Debt" The Western Producer. May 18, 2017.
- Professor Alan Ker and Professor Alfons Weersink's testimony to The House of Commons' Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food on "Debt in the Agriculture Sector and its Effects."
- Professor Brady Deaton's testimony to The House of Commons' Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food on "Debt in the Agriculture Sector and its Effects."
- "Trump presidency puts Canada’s food producers on alert" Hilltimes. Feb 14, 2017.
Student Achievements
One of the primary drivers of the Institute is to attract and support students in the field of food and agricultural economics. On that note, we would like to congratulate Regan Artnz-Gray co-winner of the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society (CAES) 2016 Outstanding Masters thesis award and Rebecca Eslkamp winner of the CAES 2016 Outstanding Dissertation award (awarded once every three years). Ms. Arntz-Gray's thesis was titled "Economic Implications of a Changing Yield Weather Relationship". Ms. Elskamp dissertation was titled “Bidding Behaviour in Multi-Unit Auctions: Three Essays”. Both Regan and Rebecca received financial support from the Institute during their studies at Guelph.
Ask The FARE Economist
Do you have a burning economic question you would like answered by our FARE Economist? Click the following link and submit your question.
Student Sponsorships
- January 2018 - The Institute provided financial assistance for students to attend the 2018 Canadian Agricultural Economics Society Annual Policy Conference, Ottawa, Ontario.
- June 2017 - The Institute provided financial assistance for students to attend the 2017 Canadian Agricultural Economics Society Annual Meeting, Montreal, Ontario.
- May 2017 - The Institute provided financial scholarships for students to attend the International Dairy Federation Economic Outlook Meeting, Guelph, Ontario.
- January 2017 - The Institute provided financial scholarships for students to attend the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Conference, Ottawa, Ontario.
- January 2017 - The Institute financially sponsored the student policy paper competition at the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Conference, Ottawa, Ontario.
Food and Agricultural Issues
Institute Outreach Activities
- 1) FAREShare
- 2) FARETalk
- 3) Price Forecasting
- 4) Market Models for What if Scenarios
- 5) Benchmarking Models
National Food Policy for Canada
The federal government has announced plans to create a Food Policy for Canada. In this special issue, I asked five experts to provide their thoughts on various aspects of a National Food Policy for Canada.
Debt in the Agriculture Sector and its Effects
Three Institute professors were invited to Parliament Hill to share important research that will help to shape effective public policy for Canadian agriculture. Brady Deaton, Alan Ker and Alfons Weersink each made testimonies to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food in the House of Commons this spring. Currently, the Committee is studying the effects of debt in the agriculture sector.
NAFTA, Trump, and Trade
- Trump and Agri-food Trade
- Canadian Agriculture and NAFTA Renegotiation
- Likely Effects of a Trade War for US Agriculture? Sad!
- Trump and Trade: Implications for Canada's Agri-Food Sector
- Trumped up NAFTA: Will rhetoric translate into actions that harm Canadian agriculture?
Recent Presentations
- "Current Trade Issues for Canadian Agriculture", FarmSmart 2018 Conference, Guelph, January 2018.
- "US Crop Insurance Program", OMAFRA, December 2017.
- "BRM Policy Options and Efficacy", Risk Management Workshop, Winnipeg, November 5 2017.
- "Land and Water: Issues and Approaches in Canada, First Nations and Abroad.", 9th Annual Daryl Kraft Lecture, October 25, 2017.
- "Modeling the Dairy Sector and Trade Implications” , Canadian Dairy Commission, Ottawa, October 23, 2017.
- "Precision Agriculture in Ontario: 2017 Precision Agriculture Services Dealership Survey", FARE Working Paper Series, October 2017
- "Changing Climate, Technology, and Yield Volatilities", School of Agriculture and Food Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. March 2017
- "The Fingerprint of Climate and Innovation on Yields", Agricultural and Agri-Food Canada, January 2017.
- "Canadian Agricultural Public Policy: Trade, Climate Change, and Risk", Sapienza University, Rome, Italy. November 2016.
- "Climate and Innovation Induced Yield Volatility", United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy. November 2016.
Conferences Hosted
- "Big Data, Changing Climate, and Agriculture", Guelph, May, 2017.
- "Is Production Agriculture Headed for Another Farm Financial Crisis", Guelph, May, 2015.
Conferences Sponsored
- Canadian Agri-Food Policy Conference, Ottawa Ontario January 2018.
- Risk Management Workshop, Winnipeg Manitoba November 2017.
- Seventh Annual Canadian Agri-Food Policy Conference, Ottawa Ontario January 2017.
- Sixth Annual Canadian Agri-Food Policy Conference, Ottawa Ontario January 2016.
- Fifth Annual Canadian Agri-Food Policy Conference, Ottawa Ontario January 2015.
Selected Published Papers
- Do Farm Support Programs Reward Production Inefficiency?, Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics (2017)
- Canadian Agricultural Policy in the Twenty-First Century: Looking Back and Going Forward, Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics (2017)
- Canadian Business Risk Management Programs: Private Firms, Crown Corporations, and Public Institutions, Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics (2017)
- Modelling Regime-Dependent Agricultural Commodity Price Volatilities, Agricultural Economics (2017)
- The Economic Impact of a Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreak for Ontario's Beef Sector, Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics (2017)
- The Impact of Market Intervention on Quota Mobility: The Case of the Ontario Dairy Industry, Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics (2016)
- Risk Attitudes, Social Interactions, and the Willingness to Pay for Genotyping in Dairy Production, Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics (2016)
- The Impact of Local Ethanol Production on the Corn Basis in Ontario, Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics (2016)
- Risk Attitudes, Social Interactions, and the Willingness to Pay for Genotyping in Dairy Production, Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics (2016)
- On Technological Change in Crop Yields, American Journal of Agricultural Economics (2015)