Farmers receive less of the food dollar: study

REGINA — Farmers continue to receive less of the food dollar, even as consumers pay more for their groceries, says the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan.

Its latest Farmers and Food Prices Report indicates the trend has not changed much since the organization began analyzing six products in 2021-22.

“Our data continues to show a consistent story,” said president Bill Prybylski.

“Food prices are rising, but the farmer’s share is actually shrinking.”

The report, which was released in June for 2024-25, actually showed a little bump in the farmer share of two products:retail pork and canola oil.

“I was a little surprised that some of the numbers have actually reversed, but when you think about it, I guess it makes sense that canola prices have rebounded a little bit compared to where they were,” Prybylski said.

Why it Matters: Food prices have escalated over the past year, but the APAS study shows the prices farmers earn from their commodities are not driving those increases.

APAS tracks the farmer share of several food products by comparing the retail price with the producer price for the initial commodity. These include a 675-gram load of bread, three litres of canola oil, 907 grams of margarine, 900 ggrams of lentils, a 24-pack of beer and retail pork.

The pork price is the combined retail value of all cuts rather than a single cut.

The report noted that last year’s study anticipated that tariffs and market volatility would result in more significant shifts, but that didn’t happen. Commodity prices and retail food prices remained relatively stable for the products in the study.

Wheat prices dropped about seven per cent, but flour prices rose six per cent and the loaf of bread, one percent.

Canola went up one per cent, while canola oil dropped four per cent and margarine dropped one per cent.

Lentils dropped at both the commodity and retail levels, by 12 per cent and five per cent, respectively. Barley and beer prices both rose by two per cent and five per cent. Hog prices were up 10 per cent and pork, four per cent.

Prybylski said food inflation is complex but the supply chain has to be more transparent so everyone understands how this is happening.

“There’s a lot of things that go on between the farm gate and grocery shelf,” he said. “There’s really no accountability, no transparency to where the increase in those prices comes from. We would like to see the rest of the industry step up to say exactly where is that extra cost coming from.”

That said, he doesn’t think some of those players would do that willingly.

In mid-June the Competition Bureau announced it would look at competition across the food supply chain, from harvest to store shelf, which may offer some insights.

It will look for potential issues in three areas: production and processing; transportation and distribution; and, retail pricing practices. The bureau is welcoming input online until July 31.

The recently released National Food Security Strategy is also an important step, said APAS, because it focuses on supply chains and market power in the food system.

“For years, we’ve been calling for greater insight into what’s happening between the farm gate and the consumer,” Prybylski added. “The federal government’s commitment to examine supply chains and pricing is a positive step toward bringing more transparency.”