Canadian Farm Product Price Index falls 1.2% year-over-year in September, the first decline since July 2010, as drop in overall livestock and animal products index offsets slight increase in crops index, Statistics Canada says

Nevin Barich

OTTAWA , December 4, 2012 (press release) – The Farm Product Price Index (FPPI) fell 1.2% in September compared with September 2011, the first decrease since July 2010. A drop in the overall livestock and animal products index more than offset the slight increase in the crops index.

The livestock and animal products index fell 3.2% in September compared with September 2011. This was its second consecutive year-over-year decline which followed a growth trend that had started in May 2010.

Declines in the hogs (-20.6%) and the dairy (-2.3%) index were responsible for the decrease in the livestock and animal products index. This was the second consecutive decline for hogs, which has recorded year-over-year increases in 25 of the previous 30 months. After declining since April 2005, breeding stock inventories have generally been rising since October 2011, increasing the supply of market animals.

Moderating the decrease in the livestock and animal products index were gains in eggs (+5.2%), poultry (+3.1%) and cattle and calves (+3.8%).

The crops index rose 0.8% from September 2011, largely the result of the higher oilseed index (+7.6%) which continued a growth trend that had started in September of 2010. Oilseed prices have been supported by increased demand and concerns of dry growing conditions in the United States. Canola, Canada's largest production oilseed, had record exports and volume crushed in Canada over the last crop year (August 1, 2011 to July 31, 2012). Ending stocks on July 31, 2012 had fallen to their lowest level since July 2004, when production for the beginning of that crop year was less than half of what the production was for the 2011/2012 crop year.

The growth in the crops index was tempered by declines in grains, specialty crops, vegetables and potatoes.

Compared with August 2012, the FPPI declined 2.0% as both the livestock and animal products index and the total crops index were lower.

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