2 weeks Ago By Martin Cash
Livestock ranchers and crop producers are on opposing ends of the spectrum when it comes to farm cash receipts for the first half of the year, with the livestock folks currently on top. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * Livestock ranchers and crop producers are on opposing ends of the spectrum when it comes to farm cash receipts for the first half of the year, with the livestock folks currently on top. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Livestock ranchers and crop producers are on opposing ends of the spectrum when it comes to farm cash receipts for the first half of the year, with the livestock folks currently on top.
For the first two quarters of 2024, farm cash receipts across the country were down 3.2 per cent in total from the same time last year — with crops dropping 11.4 per cent and livestock rising 8.
5 per cent, according to Statistics Canada’s latest report. In Manitoba, total receipts were down slightly less than the national average, at 2.3 per cent.
During the second quarter, receipts were up across the country by 4.7 per cent, with Manitoba leading the nation in April-June period, up 6.4 per cent.
Jill Verwey, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said while 2024 prices are still far below farmers’ expectations, at least the weather is co-operating. “Earlier in the year, the concern was about the weather but, on a good note, guys are out in the field,” she said. However, there are big concerns.
Verwey said KAP was hoping for $10 per bushel of wheat at the beginning of the year. It is currently under $7. “That’s below what break-even would be,” she said.
“Producers are going to be in a position where they are going to be putting their crop in their bins rather than selling at a loss.” Meantime, almost sheepishly, Cam Dahl, executive director of Manitoba Pork, said not only are hog prices up, but producers’ margins are, too. “Our biggest input cost is feed and I know it’s not great for the grain farmers but we see significant decreases in the cost of feed grains,” he said.
“So, from both sides of the margin equation things are looking a lot better for us than they did two years ago, that’s for sure.” Matthew Atkinson, president of Manitoba Beef Producers, was not quite as bullish. Cattle prices rising 16.
3 per cent during the first half of 2024 was a big relief, even though the increase has a lot to do with the fact so many ranchers have culled their herds over the past few years. “It’s been a long time coming,” said Atkinson, who operates a cattle operation near Neepawa. “We’re a stubborn bunch,” he said.
“We’ve been sticking it out waiting for this for a long time.” Atkinson said land values on the rise and risk-management tools that are not nearly as robust as those at grain farmers’ disposal continue to challenge the economics for Manitoba cattle producers. Although it’s still early in the harvest cycle, there are some reports, despite the declining commodity prices, many cereals producers could bring off a large crop.
With only about eight per cent of the crop off the fields so far, it’s too early to tell, said Pam de Rocquigny, CEO of the Manitoba Crop Alliance (which represents wheat, barley, corn, sunflower and flax farmers). “There is definitely still a softening of crop prices.” During the first two quarters of the year, hog receipts were up 9.
5 per cent across the country — an additional $269.3 million in producers’ pockets — because of a 9.6 per cent increase in price, with a 13.
4 per cent increase in export sales. Whereas other provinces have seen some decline in hog herds because of processing closures in Alberta and Quebec, Manitoba’s has remained quite stable. There are about eight million hogs in Manitoba and about 90 per cent are exported either live to the U.
S. or as cut pork into the international market. “What happens internationally is critically important to our producers,” Dahl said.
According to Statistics Canada, farm cash receipts for Canadian farmers totalled $47.4 billion in the first two quarters of 2024, down $1.6 billion or 3.
2 per cent from the same period in 2023. Grains and oilseeds prices are noticeably down, with corn hit hardest (28.7 per cent), followed by canola (21.
9 per cent) and wheat (excluding durum) at 21.6 per cent. Verwey said there is still hope for some price recovery this year.
“There is significant room for a rebound on wheat pricing,” she said. “We’ll know when all the crop is in the bin and then we’ll see what happens on the international front.” martin.
[email protected] Martin Cash is a business reporter/columnist who’s been on that beat for the since 1989.
He’s a graduate of the University of Toronto and studied journalism at Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan University). . Every piece of reporting Martin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism.
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Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support. Martin Cash is a business reporter/columnist who’s been on that beat for the since 1989.
He’s a graduate of the University of Toronto and studied journalism at Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan University). . Every piece of reporting Martin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism.
Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider .
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support. Advertisement Advertisement.
