Farm cash receipts in Quebec were up 9.3 per cent in 2007 over 2006, the provincial statistician reported Tuesday.
The province’s farmers posted receipts of $6.77 billion in the last calendar year, l’Institut de la statistique du Quebec (ISQ) said. That’s up $574.9 million, about half of which comes from production and the other half from revenue protection program payments.
Farm program payments in Quebec reached a peak of $1.13 billion in 2007, well above the 2001-07 average of around $790 million and up $283.4 million from their 2006 level.
Crop receipts reached $1.6 billion in 2007, up $105.4 million (seven per cent) from 2006, ISQ said, largely due to rising grain and oilseed prices. Animal agriculture production receipts rose 4.8 per cent to $4 billion in 2007, on increases in receipts from the dairy (up $116.2 million) and poultry sectors (up $61.7 million).
However, ISQ noted, the hog sector posted cash receipts of $850 million in both 2006 and 2007, after having passed the $1 billion mark in 2004 and 2005. Prices in the hog sector came in 20 per cent below the 2001-05 average in both 2006 and 2007.