The advent of a global pandemic certainly added volume to the narrative that local equals resilient when it comes to economies, especially food-related economic systems. But Jayson Lusk, food and agricultural economist at Purdue University, says that evidence suggests otherwise, and that a vibrant trade economy actually adds resiliency to local economies. To demonstrate his point,… Read More

Happy Friday before the Thanksgiving long weekend, Canada! For those of you in the U.S., your time will come soon, too. On this Friday edition of RealAg Radio, you’ll hear from Dr. Jayson Lusk,of Purdue University, talking about trade and resilience. You’ll also hear an issues panel featuring RealAgriculture’s Lyndsey Smith and Kelvin Heppner. They’ll… Read More

The pandemic has proved to be challenging for even the trendiest of food brands. Beyond Meat showed it was not immune to the impact of COVID-19 as the company reported its second quarter earnings on Tuesday. While grocery store sales tripled in the second quarter, the company still lost $10.2 million on a 60.7 per… Read More

The last two months have been a roller coaster of shifting food demand, tanking farm-level prices, and closed processing plants as a result of COVID-19. As ranchers, feedlot operators, processors, and food retailers navigate the pandemic, tensions are high as some points in the value chain receive top prices while ranchers are hurting. Jayson Lusk,… Read More

It’s Day 2 of our coverage from FarmTech, in Edmonton, Alta., and today’s episode features: The top ag news, from the trade show floor; Purdue University’s Jayson Lusk talks food trends, with “social desirability” issues, plant-based protein, and pressure from investors. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Devin Dreeshen joins to talk about finding efficiencies in… Read More

The customer is always right, but who is the customer? If you’re a grocery store or a coffee shop trying to stay on-trend, is it consumer opinion that matters most, or those of your shareholders, as the pressure for profits rises? “The demands of the average consumer are pretty intuitive — they want affordable, tasty… Read More

A distinguished professor at Indiana’s Purdue University has modeled the potential implications of finding African swine fever (ASF) in the U.S., finding a range of economic losses, ranging from what he calls “bad to really, really bad.” In the conversation with Shaun Haney from RealAg Radio included below, Jayson Lusk, head of the Agricultural Economics… Read More