French Farm Costs Rise on Energy, Feed Expenses, Ministry Says

French farm-production costs climbed 5.3 percent in October on higher expenses for energy, fertilizer and animal feed, the Agriculture Ministry said.

An index of agricultural-input costs rose to 118.7 points in October from 112.8 points a year earlier, the ministry’s statistics department said in a report on its website today. The gauge has 2005 as a base year.

Animal feed makes up about 25 percent of the index, and the measure for feeding costs added 6.8 percent to 120.9 points, the report shows. The gauge for energy and lubricants, which account for 11 percent of overall costs, advanced 24 percent to 128.5 points, while the index for fertilizer prices rose 6 percent to 134.7 points.

Production costs for livestock and dairy producers gained 5.4 percent in October, while growers of commodity crops experienced a 4.1 percent rise in expenses, the ministry said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.