The latest Statistics Canada field crop survey confirms what most in the farming community have been talking about non-stop for the last month: dry conditions in the west and wet conditions in the east have significantly impacted what crop mix is in the ground. According to the June Field Crop Survey, canola, durum, and winter… Read More
Statistics Canada is reporting last year’s 45.1 per cent decrease in realized net farm income (to $3.9 billion) as the largest since 2006. Realized net income is the difference between a farmer’s cash receipts and operating expenses, minus depreciation, plus income in kind. The attribution for the steep decline includes rising feed, interest and labour… Read More
Statistics Canada is out with its first results of this year’s Field Crop Survey to gauge how much of each principal field crop is currently stored on-farm. The survey was conducted from the beginning until the end of March. According to the report, farmers were asked to report the amounts of grain, oilseeds, and special… Read More
It’s spring and that means it’s farming time across Canada. StatsCan has released its March seeding intention report for 2019 to give an indication for of how acres could possibly change for 2019. In Western Canada, the battle for acres has several more competitors than in Ontario and the U.S. Midwest, so winners and losers… Read More
Statistics Canada has released its livestock estimates as of January, and although sheep numbers are on the rise it’s a bit of a different story for cattle and hogs. Comparing January 2019 to last year, it was the first year-over-year decrease for hog inventories since January 2013. Although there is small increase for cattle, inventories… Read More
A decline in total crop stocks occurred for the 2018 crop year for all commodities, except for canola, according to a recent report from Statistics Canada. The report, released Tuesday, covers ending stocks to December 31, 2018. Canola ending stocks sat at a record-high 14.6 million tonnes, an increase of 4.9 per cent from 2017…. Read More
Statistics Canada, it would appear, knows you don’t really want to talk to them. The government agency is sharing news of its AG-Zero project — an initiative that seeks to move phone and other surveys from first to somewhere else down the list of information gathering. “We’re working to produce comprehensive, relevant, and integrated farm… Read More
Statistics Canada’s final crop production report for 2018 is out, and the coast to coast struggles dished out by Mother Nature are well reflected in the production figures. A lack of moisture in the Prairies, followed by frost, snow, and rain over much of Western Canada during the fall delayed harvest quite a bit. Although… Read More
In its second production estimate for the year, Statistics Canada believes this year’s harvest will result in a record corn harvest. It’s projected there will be 14.5 million tonnes of grain corn harvested this fall, up 2.6% from 2017. The increase in production is the result of a combination of increased harvested area (+2.4%) from… Read More
After delivering some big surprises in its seeding intentions report back in April, Statistics Canada moved more in line with market expectations in its seeded acreage report published on Friday morning, ahead of the USDA’s latest acreage estimates. The report was based on a survey of approximately 24,500 farms between May 11 and June 12,… Read More
“Hello, I’m calling on behalf of Statistics Canada. Would you have time…” It’s a familiar phone call for most Canadian farmers when StatsCan conducts its surveys for estimating crop and livestock production statistics across the country. The inconvenience of having to spend the time on the phone, combined with not wanting to share information about what’s… Read More
Statistics Canada’s crop reports are often subject to criticism, with analysts, traders and farmers questioning or downplaying the accuracy and relevance of the agency’s estimates. Participating in a StatsCan survey when the agency calls or emails you is technically mandatory under federal law, but the running joke is that farmers don’t provide accurate information to… Read More
Canadian farmers plan to seed far fewer acres of canola and much more wheat than what the market was expecting, according to Statistics Canada’s first acreage estimates for the 2018 growing season. The federal agency published its Principle Field Crop Areas report on Friday, based on a survey of about 11,600 farms between March 2 and… Read More
Canadian farmers planted 22.8 million acres of canola and 7.3 million acres of soybeans this spring, according to the Statistics Canada acreage report published on Thursday. For canola, that’s well beyond the record area projected in April of 22.4 million, and 12 percent higher than the 20.4 million acres grown in 2016. While there are… Read More
The 2016 Census of Agriculture results were released on Wednesday, painting an overall picture of Canadian agriculture and how it has changed since the 2011 census. Here’s a quick look at the high-level numbers: There were 193,492 farms counted in 2016, down 5.9 percent from 2011. However, this was the lowest rate of decline in 20 years…. Read More