The gap between the cost of groceries and what farmers, who produce those foods, receive in return is wider compared to the previous three years, according to the Agricultural Producers’ Association of Saskatchewan’s (APAS) third annual “Farmers and Food Prices” report.
The report follows seven key grocery products that come from commodities grown in the province, ranging from beer, lentils and margarine, to bread, flour, canola oil and retail pork. The purpose of the report, according to APAS, is to advocate “for transparency and accountability within the food supply chain by providing a window into the producer’s role.”
The report covers the “farm share” – or what farmers earn off of each product – between 2021 and 2024. There were decreases of the “farm share” in six of the seven products in 2024 compared to 2023, 2022, and 2021 , except for retail pork which had a slight increase to 22% from 21.1% in 2023; however its lower when compared to 2022 and 2021.
“This means that for every dollar spent by consumers at grocery stores, an increasingly smaller portion of it is making its way back to the farm gate. This reduction in farm share also indicates the weakening influence of commodity prices on final grocery store prices.” noted the report.
The peak year for “farm share” for most products, except for retail pork, was in 2022 due to high commodity prices, then 2023 was a down year due to commodity prices dropping significantly.