Canadian Ag Commodity Prices Slide

OTTAWA - Jan 24/05 - SNS -- Prices for primary agricultural commodities declined at the farm level in Canada in November, according to Statistics Canada's latest Farm Product Price Index (FPPI) calculations, sinking 7.6% from the previous year and 2.15% from October.

The crops index was 17.5% below its November 2003 level, continuing the monthly year-over-year downward trend which began in July 2003. The potato index was the only index on the crops side to increase.

Meanwhile, the livestock and animal products index was 2.6% above year-earlier levels, marking the sixth consecutive year-over-year increase. 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 advanced over November 2003 — similar to the previous two months.

The FPPI (1997=100) stood at 91.0 in November, down from the revised October index of 93.0. The total index had peaked at 111.4 in February 2003, but stood at its lowest level since November 1999.

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