Canadian Farm Production Value up in 2004

OTTAWA - Jan 18/06 - SNS -- The value of agricultural production rose 2.5% in 2004, reports Statistics Canada, reflecting the positive impact of that year's commodity prices, program payments and the value of inventory change.

The sales of agricultural products rose to $38.3 billion in 2004, after a decline of almost 10% in 2003. The 2004 level remained slightly over the previous five-year average (1999 to 2003). "It should be noted that 2002 and 2003 were two years where the consequences of back-to-back droughts and the closure of the US border to live cattle exports were strongly felt, weighing down the five-year average," Statistics Canada said.

The increase in 2004 was mainly due to the 6.9% jump in sales of agricultural products to other sectors to $31.5 billion. Higher revenues for crops and hogs in particular pushed sales up. For hogs, the jump was due largely to growth in revenue from domestic slaughter. Hog prices strengthened throughout 2004 as a result of robust exports and strong domestic demand.

For crops, production of grains and oilseeds returned to more normal levels in 2003 following two consecutive droughts in Western Canada (2001 and 2002). This contributed to substantially higher deliveries for most major crops between January and June 2004 and higher Canadian Wheat Board payments.

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