Saskatchewan farmers are keeping a smaller share of the food dollar, even as commodity and retail prices stayed relatively stable in 2025.
That is the main finding of a new report from the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), which tracks the gap between what producers are paid and what shoppers pay at the till.
The report, released July 6, is APAS’s fourth annual look at “farm share,” the portion of a retail food dollar that flows back to the farm before production costs are factored in. It does not measure farmer profit.
Farm share fell for more than half of the seven food products APAS tracked in 2025, according to the report. Products made from grains, including wheat, barley and lentils, saw the steepest declines. Canola and hog-based products saw only modest gains.
The numbers
APAS compared prices across seven common grocery items linked to Saskatchewan commodities: retail pork, canola oil, flour, bread, beer, lentils and margarine.
Wheat prices fell 7 per cent between 2024 and 2025, according to the report. Flour prices still rose 6 per cent over the same period, and bread rose 1 per cent.
Lentil commodity prices dropped 12 per cent. Retail lentil prices fell only 5 per cent, a smaller decrease that further narrowed the farmer’s cut.
Hog prices rose 10 per cent, and retail pork prices climbed 4 per cent, one of the few categories where farm share improved slightly.
What’s driving it
The report says 2025 was shaped by trade uncertainty and tariff threats, particularly from the United States. Despite that, commodity and retail food prices moved only modestly compared with the sharper swings seen in prior years.
APAS says the wider food supply chain beyond the farm gate remains difficult to track. The report states that other participants in that chain, including processors and retailers, have more flexibility to set prices and pass rising costs on to consumers than farmers do.
Producers, by contrast, cannot pass along rising costs for fuel, fertilizer and other inputs, because commodity prices are set by global markets rather than by individual farmers, the report says.
Looking ahead
APAS says 2026 has already brought new pressure, with global conflict replacing tariffs as the main source of uncertainty and fuel prices climbing as a result.
The report calls for more transparency across the full supply chain, from the farm gate to the grocery shelf, so it is clearer which costs are being absorbed and which are being passed on to shoppers.
APAS says producers and consumers are not on opposite sides of the food price debate. Both groups, the report argues, are affected by a supply chain where accountability fades the further food travels from the farm.
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