Dry conditions, tight supplies and geopolitical disruptions continue to push farm prices up across the country.

Standing at $978 per metric tonne in March, Alberta’s canola prices climbed higher for the sixth consecutive month and remained at a record high. Over the first quarter of the year, this was up 61% from the same point in 2021.

While at its provincial peak, canola prices were still not as hot as witnessed in some of the other regions in the country. Prices received by farmers in Saskatchewan, Quebec and Manitoba stood upwards of $1,000 per metric tonne in March.

Prices of wheat (excluding durum) in Alberta also ticked up for the nineteenth month in a row and were higher by 59% year-to-date. Meanwhile, dry peas and lentil prices cooled off from February levels but remained elevated on average compared to the first quarter of last year.

Driven largely by strong demand from the United States, hog slaughter prices posted monthly gains across most provinces in the country led by Nova Scotia (+16%) and Prince Edward Island (+15%). 

Answer to the previous trivia question: In October 1973, the Arab members of OPEC plus Egypt and Syria placed an embargo on oil exports to the United States. The embargo ended in March 1974.

Today’s trivia question: Where does the 1980 movie “Friday the 13th” take place?