While farmers might be insulated from dealing with a lot of people during the Covid-19 outbreak, agriculture is certainly still very much affected. This March 17, 2020 CropLife article and slideshow by David Frabotta, explains how.
Fortunately, much of agriculture operates on long lead times, and as a result, most operations in the Northern Hemisphere are in good shape for planting season. There are plenty of seeds, fertilizers, and plant protection products in the value chain to meet grower demand in Q2 as planting begins, possibly early if saturated fields can dry out in the coming weeks.
But looking into Q3 and Q4, there are questions about how COVID-19 will affect labor availability, consumer demand for produce, trade deals, and supply chains for crop inputs, potentially affecting late-season applications of non-commodity pesticides. Specialty fungicides specifically could see some price inflation.
To learn 5 ways the pandemic is impacting global agriculture right now, click here to view slideshow.