California Agricultural Issues Lab
of the University of California
Marketplace / September 3, 2020
Farmers are paying attention to prices. That’s the big deal going on here.
Hog prices have come back, cattle prices come back a bit, milk prices came back a lot.
Dan Sumner
Click here for the Marketplace podcast. The discussion took place September 3 and begins around 16:40.
University of California / July 2, 2020
“Food systems are used to having incredible shocks but they’re almost always on supply side,” said Daniel Sumner, a professor of agricultural economics at UC Davis. “A freeze wipes out an orange crop, or a disease affects chickens and egg prices go up. This was the first time in a long time that there was an incredible disruption in (demand).”
“It’s remarkable how we’ve had so much disruption but yet we’ve all had plenty to eat,” Sumner said during the panel. “The disruption in the meat supply has been quite minor. There’s been lots of headlines but the meat’s been there…We have a food system that’s worked remarkably well.”
AIC research economist Karen Jetter presented “Simulated Costs of Hospital Stays Under Different Rates of Covid-19 Transmission” at Virtual Podium 2020.
All those bare shelves? “They were dramatic, but not emblematic,” says Daniel Sumner, PhD, a distinguished professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California, Davis. Early on, panicked consumers raced to stockpile canned goods, rice, dried beans, and other staples, creating eerie impressions of scarcity in stores. But the food supply chain has remained surprisingly strong, according to Sumner. “It’s much more resilient and solid now than I would have thought 2 months ago.”
Date: June 16, 2020
Co-hosted by: UC Davis Global Affairs, UC Davis World Food Center, in collaboration with ISAM-International School of Agri Management
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted agricultural supply chains within the United States and worldwide. A panel of experts from academia, industry and the non-profit sector will discuss how the pandemic has disrupted global supply chains in the near-term. Looking ahead, they will offer an assessment of COVID 19’s long-run impact on global agricultural trade and how we can prepare for similar crises in the future. It is also part of the Campus Global Theme: Food for Thought: Feeding Ourselves, Feeding the Planet.
Dr. Fernanda Ferreira (CE Specialist, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine) discusses with AIC Director Dr. Daniel Sumner and Annie AcMoody (Economist, Western United Dairies) how COVID-19 has impacted dairy markets.
National Geographic / May 19, 2020
“What we have is a low-cost and efficient system that allows for huge variety and attention to individual tastes,” says Daniel Sumner, an economist at the University of California, Davis.
Marketplace / May 11, 2020
Professor Daniel Sumner of the University of California, Davis, says the program aims to assist those who might not be covered by other programs, like food stamps. “They are homeless or they’re not eligible in other ways. One of the attempts here is to get food to the poorest, most vulnerable people.”
San Francisco Chronicle / May 18, 2020
But while the supply of beef and pork in the U.S. has been down 10% to 15% in recent weeks, there is no long-term threat to the nation’s meat supply, and already “it’s creeping back up,” said Daniel A. Sumner, director of the University of California Agricultural Issues Center.