The world's economy seems to be teetering on recession based on economies bathed in red ink and little idea of how to turn the tide.
We see that south of our own border, where the American economy is stagnant and the ability of the federal government to influence it is greatly hamstrung by its massive debt and continuing deficits.
The situation in Europe is not much better. We have seen the situation in Greece nearly topple a government, and threaten to shake the very concept of the European Union.
The great concern with Greece is that the situation there may only be the first glimpse of a very large iceberg of problems, which could spread as other countries face financial problems, including Italy and Portugal.
If one country were to default, it could result in a domino effect across Western Europe.
If that were to happen, it could signal a recessionary period which will have effects for farming, which at present is experiencing good prices across almost every commodity from the Canadian Prairies.
There are those who believe agriculture might be buffered from a recession, at least past the short-term reaction of markets.
According to a Western Producer story, "Perez Dominguez of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development told a meeting held during the Agritechnica farm show in Hanover last week that fears of food prices falling because of recession are unfounded because of fundamental strengths in global supply and demand.
"There is increasing pressure on a limited land base, higher demands being placed on every hectare to produce more and the technology that has been improving yields is delivering smaller and smaller gains," he said in the article.
Dominquez is correct about the food requirements of a growing population having to come from what is basically a finite land resource.
The truth of the situation is one experts have pointed to for as long as I have been a farm journalist (22 years), as the reason agriculture has a bright future.
For the most part, the good times for farmers have been fleeting during the last two decades, and the world population has climbed steadily over that period.
While supply and demand is a commodity driver, the unwritten policy of low food prices in countries such as the United States drags on that driver.
So too does the fact much of the demand lies with the poorest countries, which are not in a position to pay high prices regardless of the supply situation. That is a situation of world wealth distribution, something that is basically ignored when world leaders meet.
Dominquez is correct in stating that agricultural commodities should be better able to withstand economic upheavals because they are essential to survival, and one day that will be the reality of things. But that may not be the reality just yet, so farmers will want to watch how the world economy reacts to the uncertainty that is out there.
