Canada's Ag Commodity Prices Down in October

OTTAWA - Jan 5/05 - SNS -- Canadian farmers received less for their agricultural output in October than they did one year earlier, according to Statistics Canada's latest Farm Product Price Index (FPPI), which is down 4.5% from last year.

The crops index was 11.6% below its October 2003 level, continuing the monthly year-over-year downward trend which began in July 2003. The fruits and potato indexes were the only two on the crops side to increase.

Statistics Canada says the livestock and animal products index was 3.7% above year-earlier levels, marking the fifth consecutive year-over-year advance. Prior to that however, the total livestock and animal products index had decreased on a year-over-year basis for 12 consecutive months. For the livestock and animal product index, all but the cattle and calves index recorded an increase over October 2003.

The FPPI (1997=100) stood at 93.1 in October, down from the revised September index of 96.0. The total index had peaked in February 2003 at 111.4, but now stands at its lowest level since January 2000.

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