Dramatic spike in cost of farming
OTTAWA — How much have your input costs risen? A Canadian senate committee was so concrerned it compiled a report on it and found these increases:• Fertilizer: 76 per cent to 242 % in the past four years
• Diesel fuel: 42 % in the past 12 months
• Feed barely: 31 % in the past 12 months
• Feed corn: 42 % in the past 12 months
• Seeds for soybeans: 27 % in the past two years
• Seeds for durum wheat: 63 % in two years
• Seeds for malt barley: 33 % in the past two years
• Other barley: 39 % in the past two years
The senate report noted that "fuel, electricity, seeds and fertilizers represent approximately 60% to 80 % of the operating costs incurred by corn, wheat and soybean growers. The rise in the prices of those cost components over the past year would thus have been catastrophic for grain growers, were it not for the offsetting effects of higher grain prices."
The situation is worse for livestock producers who have not benefited from higher output prices. Noting that fuel, electricity, and feed can represent more than 80 % of the operating costs of producing hogs and more than 60 % of the operating costs of a typical cow-calf operation, the report noted "their situation has indeed been catastrophic."