Monthly provincial prices received by farmers in December for grains, oilseeds, specialty crops, cattle, hogs, poultry, eggs and dairy products are now available.
In December, a decreased North American livestock herd and increased liquidations due to poor profitability and weather conditions resulted in mixed price movements in the livestock industry.
Slaughter cattle monthly price movements varied across Canada in December; the Atlantic provinces reported price increases, while Quebec (-9.7%), Saskatchewan (-2.7%) and Alberta (-1.0%) experienced price declines. This marked the fourth consecutive monthly price decrease for Quebec and the third consecutive decline for Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Meanwhile, feeder cattle monthly prices increased in Manitoba (+1.9%), British Columbia (+1.9%) and Ontario (+0.9%) in December. The remaining provinces experienced price declines, led by Nova Scotia (-11.3%). In addition, the Atlantic provinces and Saskatchewan decreased for a third consecutive month.
In December, slaughter hog prices decreased for the fourth consecutive month in all provinces except Quebec, which decreased for a second month in a row. British Columbia (-17.1%) led the decline in December, followed by Ontario (-9.3%) and Quebec (-9.1%).
The 2022 crop season was stronger relative to the lows from the 2021 drought. The high quality of the spring wheat (excluding durum) crop, high input prices and tight global supply continued to support high prices. Thus, non-durum wheat prices increased in December compared with December 2021 in all provinces, except New Brunswick, continuing the trend of consecutive monthly year-over-year increases.
Meanwhile, canola production fell short of expectations in 2022 due to unfavourable weather conditions during a critical growth period, resulting in a high number of empty pods. The canola harvest, however, was larger than the historic lows from 2021 and closer to normal despite the weather. Canola monthly price movements varied across provinces, with the largest decrease in Ontario (-5.5%) and the highest increase in Alberta (+0.7%) in December 2022. In addition, all provinces except for Ontario (-18.9%) marked their third consecutive year-over-year canola price increase in December.
The 2022 crop yield for oats was strong in both Canada and the United States, the increased supply put downward pressure on prices from the highs during the summer of 2022. Meanwhile, high input costs and strong domestic demand for feed use supported higher oats prices in December. Thus, oats monthly price movements varied across the country in December. Manitoba (-2.7%) marked its sixth consecutive monthly price decline and Saskatchewan (-4.1%) marked its seventh. Year over year, oats monthly price movements were also mixed across Canada, with decreases led by Quebec (-20.3%), while Alberta (+9.3%) marked its fifth consecutive monthly year-over-year increase.
Note to readers
The prices of over 35 commodities are available by province, with some data series going back 40 years. Price data are extracted from administrative files and derived from Statistics Canada surveys.
As a result of the release of data from the 2021 Census of Agriculture on May 11, 2022, data on farm cash receipts, operating expenses, net income, capital value and other data are being revised, where necessary. The complete set of revisions will be released in November 2023.
For the latest information on the Census of Agriculture, visit the Census of Agriculture portal.
For more information on agriculture and food, visit the Agriculture and food statistics portal.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).