Farm product prices, August 2022

Released: 2022-10-06

Prices received by farmers in August for grains, oilseeds, specialty crops, cattle, hogs, poultry, eggs and dairy products are now available at the provincial level.

Monthly prices for most major and specialty crop commodities recorded a decrease in August compared with July. The price decline was largely attributable to higher domestic production in 2022 which rebounded from a record low production in 2021. According to the model-based principal field crop estimates, the 2022 production for wheat excluding durum (+48.4%), canola (+38.8%) and dry peas (+58.8%) increased from the 2021 production year. Better yield coupled with higher harvested area contributed to the gains in the 2022 production, as a result of improved growing conditions in the Western provinces.

In August, compared with July, monthly prices for wheat excluding durum declined by approximately 12.0% across all Western provinces. Higher domestic production and the re-opening of Ukrainian ports for wheat exports in late July put downward pressure on prices for the commodity.

After reaching several provincial monthly record highs in the second quarter of 2022, canola monthly prices fell across most provinces in August, except for Ontario (+4.8%). The provincial decreases ranged from 6.4% in Quebec to 12.2% in Saskatchewan.

In August, dry peas recorded monthly price decreases, with Saskatchewan leading the declines (-19.6%), followed by Manitoba (-18.8%) and Alberta (-18.5%). This marked the third consecutive month-over-month decrease for this commodity.

In general, on a year-over-year basis, the prices in August for the above commodities remained well above the prices in August 2021, partly driven by the higher input costs.

Meanwhile, high production costs were the primary contributor to the recorded increases in the prices of livestock in August 2022 compared with August 2021. Even though prices for major crops declined in August 2022, feed availability was restricted as a result of tight supply. Also contributing to the price increase was the smaller cattle herd which had resulted from poor profitability and drought conditions in the Western provinces.

Slaughter hog monthly prices increased across all provinces from July to August, ranging from 0.5% in Prince Edward Island to 7.3% in Nova Scotia. Moreover, the Maritime provinces along with Alberta and Quebec recorded their fourth consecutive monthly price gains, while the remaining provinces posted increases for the eighth month in a row.

In August, slaughter cattle monthly prices varied across Canada with the Atlantic provinces and Ontario reporting monthly decreases, while Quebec and the Western provinces reported month-over-month increases. Slaughter cattle prices increased for a seventh consecutive month in Alberta (+2.5%) and British Columbia (+8.4%) in August.

Feeder cattle prices, on the other hand, reported increases in all provinces in August. Furthermore, British Columbia (+10.9%), Manitoba (+9.1%) and Ontario (+5.6%) posted their fifth consecutive month-over-month price gains, whereas Saskatchewan (+9.2%) reported its fourth increase in a row.

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).