Farm cash receipts, January to December, 2021
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Released: 2022-02-28
$81.9 billion
January to December 2021
13.7% 
(year-over-year change)
Farm cash receipts increased 13.7% from 2020 to $81.9 billion in 2021, driven by crop receipts (+9.2%), livestock receipts (+13.4%) and direct payments (+71.8%).
Chart 1
Total crop, livestock and direct payment receipts as a proportion of total farm cash receipts, January to December, Canada, 2011 to 2021
Farm cash receipts were up in all provinces in 2021 with the exception of Prince Edward Island where the receipts were flat. Alberta and Saskatchewan accounted for just under 60% of the increase.
Chart 2
Farm cash receipts by category, by province or region, January to December, 2021
Increased prices for all major grain and oilseeds pushed up crop receipts
Farmers received $3.9 billion more for their crops from a year earlier to $46.1 billion in 2021. Tightening supplies and higher demand increased prices of all major grain and oilseeds.
Canola (+$1.8 billion) and wheat (excluding durum) (+$1.0 billion) receipts accounted for just over 40% of total crop receipts. Elevated prices for canola (+43.2%) and wheat (excluding durum) (+29.0%) more than offset a decrease in marketings which were a result of the lowest production levels since 2007. Soybeans and flaxseed were the only major crops experiencing a drop in receipts as marketings fell by 25.6% and 35.1%, respectively.
Livestock receipts up on increased hog and cattle receipts
Livestock receipts increased $3.5 billion to $29.9 billion in 2021. Hog receipts rose 32.5% to $6.2 billion while cattle and calves receipts were up 11.0% to $10.2 billion.
Total hog receipts were driven up by the increase in slaughter hog receipts (+27.1%) to $5.4 billion as prices increased by 28.0%, while marketings were essentially flat. The increase in cattle and calves receipts was also driven by a rise in slaughter receipts (+14.4%) to $7.2 billion as both prices and marketings increased, 9.6% and 4.4%, respectively.
Receipts for supply managed commodities increased to $12.5 billion and accounted for just over 40% of total livestock revenue in 2021. The increase was led by chickens for meat (+$452.7 million) and dairy (+$251.5 million).
Large crop insurance payments in Saskatchewan and Alberta
Canadians farmers received $2.5 billion more in direct payments compared with a year earlier, reaching $5.9 billion in 2021. Crop insurance accounted for 63.1% of direct payments as extreme heat and dry weather conditions impacted the crop production in Western Canada resulting in a large number of claims, especially in the Prairies.
Agricultural producers in Saskatchewan (+$1.6 billion) and Alberta (+$0.9 billion) were the recipients of almost three-quarters of all program payments.
Note to readers
The next quarterly release of Farm Cash Receipts will occur on May 25, 2022 and will include data for January to March 2022.
Preliminary estimates of net farm income for 2021 will be available on May 25, 2022.
All data in this release are in current dollars. Farm cash receipts measure the gross revenue of farm businesses. They include sales of crops and livestock products (except sales between farms in the same province) and program payments. Receipts are recorded when the money is paid to farmers. These do not represent their bottom line, as farmers have to pay their expenses and loans and cover depreciation.
Farm cash receipts are, for the most part, based on monthly marketings and the monthly prices of various commodities. Marketings are quantities sold, using various units of measure.
Data are extracted from administrative files and derived from other Statistics Canada surveys and/or other sources. These data are subject to revision. COVID-19 has also had some impact on normal collection operations. For certain commodities, it was not possible to collect data either in time or at all; in these cases, estimates were produced (e.g., fur, maple syrup). Revisions to these estimates will be made in future releases as data become available.
For the latest information on the Census of Agriculture, visit the Census of Agriculture portal.
For more information on agriculture and food, visit the Agriculture and food statistics portal.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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