Improvement in Farm Management Conditions Last Year... Impact of Rising Fruit and Meat Prices

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] It has been investigated that the management conditions of the agricultural and livestock industry improved last year due to the rise in prices of fruits and vegetables and livestock products.

According to the '2020 Farm Sales and Purchase Price Survey Results' announced by Statistics Korea on the 28th, the farm terms of trade index (2015=100, same base year hereafter) last year was 110.2, up 5.3% compared to the same period the previous year.

The farm terms of trade index is the value obtained by dividing the farm sales price index (price index of 72 agricultural and livestock products produced) by the farm purchase price index (price index of 421 items input into management activities). Last year, the increase in the farm sales price index (7.2%) exceeded the increase in the farm purchase price index (1.9%), improving the indicator.

This index had continuously deteriorated after recording 103.6 in 2016, with 106.6 in 2017, 105.8 in 2018, and 104.7 in 2019, but rose last year, indicating that the profitability of farms has improved accordingly.

Last year, the farm sales price index was 117.0, up 7.2% from the previous year. Although agricultural product prices fell by 0.1% during the same period, the prices of fruits and vegetables (14.2%) and livestock products (4.5%) rose significantly. Major items with large increases include tangerines (12.9%), apples (29.5%), eggs (13.5%), Korean beef (female cow, 8.1%), and napa cabbage (52.9%).

The farm purchase price index was 106.1, up 1.9% from last year. Material costs (6.5%), household goods (1.1%), and labor costs (3.8%) increased; specifically, pesticide costs (22.8%), feed costs (4.0%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (4.4%), and labor costs (3.8%) rose.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.