Canadian Farmers See Smaller Pay Day

OTTAWA - Jun 22/05 - SNS -- Canadian farmers saw average prices for commodities they had for sale drop 8.2% in April compared with the same month a year earlier in the wake of a sharp decline in crop prices, which offset higher prices for livestock, reports Statistics Canada.

Overall, producers received prices for crops that were 21.3% below levels in April 2004, continuing a downward trend in year-over-year price changes that began in September 2003, according to the Farm Product Price Index. Farmers received lower prices for grains, oilseeds, specialty crops and fruit.

On the other hand, prices for livestock and animal products were 2.2% higher in April 2005 than they were a year earlier. The overall livestock and animal products index has recorded year-over-year increases since June of last year.

Prices rose in April for dairy and poultry, while hogs were unchanged and cattle and calves virtually unchanged (-0.4%). Gains ranged from 4.0% for poultry to 7.4% for dairy over year earlier levels.

Subscribers can read the full text of the article by Clicking here