Farm Credit Canada's Chief Economist says Canadian farmers are faring much better than their U-S counterparts.
J. P. Gervais says the USDA calls the current American situation one of the worst agricultural downturns in more than a decade.
Meanwhile, Canadian farm cash receipts are projected to remain relatively flat this year.
Gervais points the weaker Canadian dollar against the U-S currency bumps up prices Canadian producers get for many commodities priced in the U-S market.
And while a strong U-S dollar usually weakens international demand, Gervais says corn prices have held steady and soybean prices have even moved higher over the past 12 months.
The FCC economist also points out that while farm input prices increased almost 1 per cent in the U-S in the first quarter of this year, they dropped by over 2 per cent here in Canada.
Five years of severe drought have affected growers in a number of U-S states, especially California.
Gervais says Canadian exports of edible vegetables have grown at over three times the usual rate over the past three years.
His overall read of the situation - the outlook for Canadian agriculture remains positive relative to the current market conditions in the U-S.
