Farm Product Price Index

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In June, prices farmers received for their commodities rose 16.3% from June 2010, as both the crops index and livestock and animal products index advanced. June marks the sixth consecutive double-digit increase in an upward trend that started in August 2010.

The prices producers received for crops in June were 23.4% higher compared with the same month in 2010, led by increases in oilseeds, grains and specialty crops. Oilseed prices had the largest increase (+39.0%) followed by grains (+33.5%).

Weather continued to impair seeding progress in parts of Canada and the United States. By mid-June, the Canadian Wheat Board reported that six to eight million acres will remain unseeded in Western Canada.

The prices producers received for livestock and animal products in June rose 11.1% compared with June 2010, as increases were recorded in all livestock commodities. Increases ranged from 3.8% for dairy to 16.5% for cattle and calves.

North American cattle inventories have been declining. At the end of June, the Canadian cattle herd stood at its lowest level since 1994, while the number of cattle on US farms was the lowest since at least 1973 (when the series began). Higher feed grain costs continue to influence livestock prices, particularly the supply-managed sector.

On a monthly basis, following a decline in May, the June index rose 0.2%, resuming an upward trend that started in December of 2010. An increase in the crops index offset a drop in the livestock and animal products index.

Note: The growth rate of the total Farm Product Price Index (FPPI) is derived from a weighted average of the component indices using a different set of weights in consecutive months; it is not a weighted average of the growth rates of its crop and livestock components. Given this, the growth rate of the composite FPPI can lie outside the growth rate of these components.

Available on CANSIM: tables 002-0021 and 002-0022.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5040.

The June 2011 issue of Farm Product Price Index, Vol. 11, no. 6 (21-007-X, free), is now available from the Key resource module of our website under Publications.

For more information, or to order data, call Client Services (toll-free 1-800-465-1991). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Gail-Ann Breese (204-983-3445; fax: 204-983-7543; gail-ann.breese@statcan.gc.ca), Agriculture Division.