A recent news article gives incorrect data on the price of wheat
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Representatives from the Saskatchewan Wheat Commission (Sask Wheat), Manitoba Crop Alliance and the Alberta Wheat Commission recently raised concern over an article that incorrectly states that the price of wheat is causing food prices to rise in Canada.
The article looked at the projections in Canada’s Food Price Report 2021. This report showed that bakery products are likely to rise 3.5 to 5.5 per cent in 2021. The article stated that the cost of wheat rose 50 per cent in the last 18 months and this was a main driver of food cost increases, said the release.
“We thought that just didn't sound totally right and did a little background work on it,” said Brett Halstead, chair of Sask Wheat.
The representatives found the article used the Chicago Board of Trade futures, said Halstead.
What the article referred to was “a feed wheat or an ethanol wheat, and it has gone up on the futures trade, which is just the trade, it doesn't necessarily mean it's the cash price,” he said.
The price that farmers get for their wheat has not increased significantly in the last year and half and the commissions wanted to give consumers correct information, said Halstead.
“We didn't think it was proper to give consumers the impression that grain prices have gone up on farmers’ end,” Halstead told Farms.com.
The Prairie wheat commission representatives wanted to set the record straight with their release, give more information about wheat prices and support their farmers, said Halstead.
“We saw some comments on it, on Twitter (and other social media) from farmers. (The commissions) represent those same farmers that are making those comments, and we wanted to back up what they were saying because we agreed that it just doesn't set the right tone to what's really happening out there,” said Halstead.
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