Farm product prices, October 2022

Released: 2022-12-06

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

Cattle and hog prices continued to drop across the provinces as processers were congested due to fast increasing supply and limited availability of trucks to ship livestock.

In October, feeder cattle prices decreased across all provinces, apart from Alberta (+19.8%) and Ontario (+1.9%), and the latter marked its seventh consecutive month of price increases. The gain in Alberta's feeder cattle prices was partially due to the increased number of traded feeder steers and heifers. The decreased inventory of cattle in the United States has resulted in higher demand from United States feedlots for Canadian feeder cattle and calves, which supported prices. Meanwhile, Quebec experienced the largest price decline (-11.6%) in October, followed by the Atlantic provinces (-3.4%) and Saskatchewan (-1.8%). Furthermore, the upward six-month price trend in Manitoba (-1.8%) and British Columbia (-1.6%) ended.

In October, slaughter cattle prices decreased across most provinces, led by Quebec (-15.6%). Slaughter cattle prices decreased for the fourth consecutive month in Ontario, while prices remained almost flat in the Atlantic provinces after declining for three consecutive months. Meanwhile, the slaughter cattle monthly prices in British Columbia (-3.8%) and Alberta (-1.2%) ended their eight-month upward trend.

Slaughter hog prices continued to fall across all provinces except for Quebec, where they rose slightly (+0.6%), from September to October. The price declines ranged from 0.2% in Ontario to 5.1% in Nova Scotia.

Wheat excluding durum monthly price movements varied in the Prairie provinces in October. Moderately higher domestic production put downward pressure on wheat prices, while disruptions in the supply chain as a result of geopolitical pressures continued to support the price gains. Saskatchewan (+3.8%) and Manitoba (+1.6%) posted gains, while Alberta (-2.0%) recorded a decrease.

Monthly prices of both dry peas and lentils also recorded mixed movements across the Prairie provinces in October. Monthly prices of dry peas fell in Manitoba (-3.3%) and in Alberta (-1.9%), while they increased in Saskatchewan (+1.0%). Lentils prices, on the other hand, were up in Saskatchewan (+5.5%) and down in Alberta (-4.0%). Dry peas and lentils prices have been volatile in the last two months as the market adjusts to the estimated higher production in the new crop year.

Contact information

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