Farm income to drop for 2016 and 2017: forecast

OTTAWA (CP) — Agriculture and AgriFood Canada is predicting that net cash income for farmers is likely to decline slightly for 2016 and 2017, but will still be higher than the average over the previous five years.

Net cash income in 2016 is estimated to slip by two per cent to $14.8 billion, with another seven per cent decline in 2017 to $13.8 billion.

The department blames weakness in North American livestock markets for most of the decline.

Crop receipts are forecast to increase for both 2016 and 2017 due to strong sales of canola in 2016 and increased grain sales in 2017 as last year’s bumper crop works through the market.