Paul Martin's Business Update - September 22th, 2014

The late grain harvest this year is just one more indication of the how agriculture is going to impact the economy in 2014.

Combines have finally begun to roll in earnest in most parts of the province – a month behind what we would consider normal. No doubt the delays have been giving farmers heartburn as they cope with additional problems of lower yields, delivery backlogs, plant disease and prices that are 25 per cent lower than they were a year ago.

And that heart burn is showing up in their spending patterns. The latest figures on wholesale activity in the province – from July – were down about 6 per cent from June. StatsCan attributes the bulk of the decline to slower sales in agricultural supplies. Overall, the wholesale trade is still turning more volume than they did a year ago at $ 2 billion. But Saskatchewan was the largest contributor to a monthly decline across the country in July as sales fell in four other provinces as well.

Only the Ontario-based automotive sector improved in July, not offering much of an offset out here.

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