Crop prices rise 40 per cent in June: StatsCan
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Prices that Canadian farmers got for their commodities rose 17.7 per cent in June 2008 from the same month a year earlier, as strong crop prices offset a slip in livestock prices.
Prices that producers received for crops were up 40.4 per cent in June compared with June 2007, continuing double-digit increases which began in November 2006. Farmers received higher prices for all crops.
On the other hand, overall prices for livestock and animal products were 0.4 per cent below their June 2007 level, the 10th consecutive year-to-year decline, due to lower cattle and hog prices. Hog, cattle and calf prices have posted 13 months of year-to-year decreases.
On a monthly basis, prices farmers received for their commodities were up 2.1 per cent in June from May 2008, as both the livestock and animal products index and the crops index recorded increases.
The Farm Product Price Index (FPPI) stood at 124.3 (1997=100) in June, up from the May 2008 index of 121.8.
The total crops index rose 1.7 per cent in June compared with the May index as grains, oilseeds and potatoes recorded increases.
Crop prices have found support from continued demand and from uncertainty over new crop supplies as this year’s production faced adverse growing conditions, ranging from dry conditions in the western Prairies to flooding in the midwestern U.S.
The overall livestock and animal products index was 106.5, edging up over the May index of 106.2. Increases in the cattle and calf, poultry and egg indexes, all contributed to the increase. Despite a 2.4 per cent decrease, the hog index stood at its second highest level since August 2007.
Note: The growth rate of the total FPPI is not a weighted average of the growth rates of its crop and livestock components. The growth rate of the total FPPI is derived from a weighted average of the component indices using a different set of weights in consecutive months. Given this, the growth rate of the composite FPPI can lie outside the growth rate of the components.
