A now-annual study by the Prairie provinces’ general farm groups finds farmers getting a slightly larger share of a larger grocery bill.
In the 2010 “Farmer’s Share” research project, commissioned by the Keystone Agricultural Producers, Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan and Wild Rose Agricultural Producers, shopping trips for the same basket of foods on May 22, 2010 led to a food bill 2.12 per cent higher than in the previous year’s study, while the average farmer’s share rose by “around one per cent.”
The increase brings the farmer’s share back to the 2008 level, the groups said in a joint release last week.
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The total food cost in the 2010 shopping trip, priced at Safeway, was $198.95 (before taxes), up from $188.22 in 2008 and $194.23 in 2009. In this study, 89 per cent of the foods and food products studied are listed as being produced in Canada.
“There was a rise in the cost of groceries by $4.12 between 2009 and 2010, and this change illustrates that the consumer is spending an ever-increasing percentage of the total grocery budget on vegetables and fruit,” the groups said, citing data collected and prepared by Winnipeg consultant Alma Kennedy.
“Specifically, the cost of apples, peaches and lettuce increased the most from 2009 to 2010.”
The percentage of grocery money spent on grain products fell in 2009 and remained low in 2010, while “milk and alternatives” was again unchanged. The percentage spent on “meat and alternatives” dropped back to 2008 levels in 2010.
Based on this shopping trip, the majority of the money, 44 per cent, was spent on vegetables and fruit, followed by meat and alternatives (25 per cent), grain products (16 per cent) and milk and alternatives (15 per cent).
Depending on the food group, the farmer’s share percentage ranged from just over four per cent for grain products to 51 per cent for milk and alternatives, the groups said. The average 2010 farmer’s share in this project, across all food groups, is 27.1 per cent.
“Little return”
“Unfortunately, the farmer’s share of the food basket has not changed in the past three years,” Humphrey Banack, a Camrose, Alta. farmer and president of WRAP, said in the groups’ release.
“Farmers need increased prices and an increased share of the consumer food dollar to be viable. Canadian farmers produce safe and high-quality food for little return and need to be better compensated.”
Furthermore, “while the farmer’s share of meat and alternatives increased on a percentage basis in 2010, the actual dollar return to farmers decreased and is below the 2008 level,” said Greg Marshall, a Semans, Sask. rancher and president of APAS.
“This is because meat prices have been lower in 2010. This illustrates both the need for increased prices and an increased return to farmers.”
The farmer’s share ranges “widely” between food products, often depending on the number of steps in the production, processing and distribution chains between the farm and the grocery store, the groups noted again this year.
“Less-processed foods such as vegetables often showed a greater return to the farmer. In the case of bread or other grain products, the actual return to the farm gate is extremely small.”
The study also requires “extensive calculations” for which Kennedy must pencil out how many cranberries or apples would be used in a litre of juice, establish ratios of wheat to bread and milk to cheese, and consider the meat yield and other processes.
The menu selections for the study were based on Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating for a family of four: one adult male, adult female, teenage female and child.
