Chicken prices plummet, but not as bad as U.S.

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published: September 9, 1999

Canadian chicken farmers are receiving the lowest prices in seven years but Canadian consumers still pay significantly higher prices than their American counterparts.

Figures compiled by Chicken Farmers of Canada indicate that in July, Canadian consumers paid between $3.87 per kilogram (eviscerated) in Toronto to $4.95 in Charlottetown.

In the United States, according to CFC figures, the average retail price for whole chicken was $3.43 (Canadian) per kg.

The comparison does not take into account the lower average income of consumers in the U.S. and the portion of disposable income devoted to food purchases.

Read Also

Robert Andjelic, who owns 248,000 acres of cropland in Canada, stands in a massive field of canola south of Whitewood, Sask. Andjelic doesn't believe that technical analysis is a useful tool for predicting farmland values | Robert Arnason photo

Land crash warning rejected

A technical analyst believes that Saskatchewan land values could be due for a correction, but land owners and FCC say supply/demand fundamentals drive land prices – not mathematical models

Meanwhile, the chicken lobby reported a boom in both domestic production, imports and exports.

By Aug. 14, production in Canada had increased by close to seven percent over last year totals. The largest expansion came on the Prairies, where chicken production through the first seven months of the year increased between 11.7 percent in Alberta and 17 percent in Saskatchewan.

At the same time, imports of chicken parts increased 7.3 percent to Aug. 14. Total imports were 44 million kg. Imports accounted for more than eight percent of domestic production.

Exports also increased 4.2 percent to 24 million kg. It represents a 50 percent increase in exports during the past two years.

explore

Stories from our other publications