Weather conditions can help or hurt a harvest
The weather in agricultural regions plays a significant role in determining the size of a harvest. When the weather is too wet or too dry, farms produce less food. But people don’t eat less when this happens, so the ongoing demand for food pushes prices up.
Climate change is causing more severe and frequent extreme weather events around the world. This has been one factor driving up food prices in Canada. A lot of the food in our grocery stores comes from regions such as California and Mexico where farmers can cultivate crops year-round. But the weather has negatively affected harvests in those regions in recent years.
Farms in Canada have not been immune to harsh weather either. In 2021, Western Canada experienced a severe heat wave and drought conditions that affected the harvest of grains. Wheat saw some of the steepest price increases of any food product. Meat prices were also affected. The extreme heat scorched the grass in fields where cows would normally graze, forcing farmers to buy feed for their animals. That created extra costs for farmers, and consumers ended up paying more.