In a Twitter @AgTwitter survey farmers listed a host of concerns facing their farms going into 2023. Most focused-on government policy or lack thereof, the carbon tax and climate change regulations and the cost of everything going up.  
Korey Peters of Randolph, MB said initial costs of anything with long-term return on investment ROI labour and price increases; seem to continue. 
Ken Foster of Arborg, MB said increased costs, fertilizer and crop inputs.  
“Taxes and more taxes. The weather is always challenging; hopefully, the 2023 weather will be decent.” 
Former federal ag minister Gerry Ritz said the carbon tax fertilizer regulations and a federal government that needs to learn about Agriculture as it pertains to today’s farmers and farming techniques.  
Jim Pallister who farms at Portage la Prairie, MB, felt that the policies of all three levels of government federal, provincial and municipal challenged today’s farmers. For example, interest costs labour challenges and weed and insect resistance herbicides and pesticides.  
Cam Dahl the general manager of Manitoba Pork said global political instability (e.g. war in Ukraine).  
“Global financial instability (escalating interest rates, inflation, recession, currency risk). Disease risk (e.g. African Swine Fever threat).” 
Dahl said the war in Ukraine would continue to cause significant disruption, resulting in high feed prices and price instability. For example, what will the price of corn or soybean meal be in six months? “If someone gives you firm answers to these questions, don’t believe them. Accurate prediction is challenging under the current market conditions.” 
He said the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 continue to introduce volatility.  
“As a result of the pandemic, we shifted from a logistics system that was ‘just in time’ to one that is ‘just in case.’ But, unfortunately, a just-in-case logistics chain increases the cost of inputs and pushes up the cost of getting pork to market.” 
Dahl said significant economic factors also build uncertainty into the global demand for pork. Rising inflation, especially for food, will impact pork demand. How much is an open question that has no easy answers?   
Also, to what degree has China recovered from ASF and what will this mean for their pork demand? What about other ASF-impacted countries like Vietnam and the Philippines? What will happen to European production in light of ASF pressure, escalating feed costs and restricted feed availability driven by the war in Ukraine? These are substantial market questions for 2023. 
The disease will continue to be a significant production risk in the year ahead.  
Brian Kennedy of Calgary AB added to the mix the rising cost of capital, competition from other exporters and the regulatory environment.  
Somerled reference United Nations-World Economic Forum threatened fertilizer bans and the ensuing food price rises and scarcity. “The manufactured climate and fuel crises are making farming unaffordable.” 
Tyler Burns in Saskatchewan felt supply chain, input and machine prices, and government policy presented some challenges but added, “There are opportunities within each as well. Both controllable and uncontrollable.” 
Bantry Seedman from Alberta, “The three challenges that threaten my farm are commodity pricing in conjunction with our input costs pricing, availability of the products we use and our absolute lack of support from our government.” 
Stuart Smyth who holds the Agri-Food Innovation and Sustainability Enhancement Chair at the University of Saskatchewan, said the April 30 per cent increase in the carbon tax, the delay in the CFIA’s approval of gene editing and the lack of pipeline capacity drive up the cost of commodity transportation and reduce agriculture’s access to the rail network. 
Lane Christiansen of Saskatchewan said the export/import shifts worldwide could cause a potential price decrease. “Crop input supply and cost closing in on the end of the 30 per cent nitrogen emissions reduction. In the long term, land prices for young farmers will increase.” 
Jon @ironheeler said everyone soon forgets that when COVID lockdowns started, specialty food (especially meat, i.e. grass-fed, organic) was not wholly picked over and bare. “Why? No one cares about labels when push comes to shove; they want the cheapest food.” 
Delichte Farms Ltd, a 126-year-old, 6th-generation dairy and grain farm in South Central Manitoba, tweeted rising interest rates, increasing costs of inputs and equipment, and non-farming investors now driving up the rising cost of farmland prices. •
— By Harry Siemens