Agriculture Canada says Canadian farmers’ incomes will decline 7 percent in 2017, falling for the second year in a row but remaining at above-average levels,
Ag Canada is crediting a drop in North American cattle and calf prices from record highs in 2015 is the main reason for the two-year dip, but adds crop revenues, however, are expected to rise due to a big harvest.
Net cash income, which measures revenue minus operating expenses, is expected to slide by $1 billion, to $13.8 billion in 2017, following a 2 percent decline in 2016. Those two years are still expected to be among the highest income years on record.
Canadian farmers’ incomes have historically followed the same trend as U.S. farm incomes, but diverged in 2014-15 due to depreciation of the Canadian dollar. which helped Canadian exports.
Last week, the US department of agriculture said U.S. farm income is forecast to fall 8.7 percent to $62.3 billion in 2017,
Source : CKRM