The Business of Agriculture

Release date: June 14, 2017
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Infographic: The Business of Agriculture
Description: The Business of Agriculture

Farm sales in Canada totalled $69.4 billion in 2015.

The size of farm operations and the sales they earned increased.

  • The number of farms reporting sales of $1 million or more increased by 8.2% from 2011, to 14,741 farms in 2016.
  • Nationally, 7.6% of farm operations reported sales of $1 million or more; these farms generated 60.3% of total sales.
  • There were 280,315 farm employees in Canada in 2015.
Average operating expenses per dollar of sales, by province
Province Average operating expenses per dollar of sales
British Columbia 85¢
Alberta 84¢
Saskatchewan 78¢
Manitoba 81¢
Ontario 85¢
Quebec 84¢
New Brunswick 85¢
Nova Scotia 89¢
Prince Edward Island 85¢
Newfoundland and Labrador 88¢
  • Farm had an average of $0.83 in operating expenses for every dollar in sales.
  • Crop farms earned 53.0% of sales; livestock farms earned 47.0% of sales.

Value of farm capital in 2016

  • Value of agricultural land and buildings: $427.9 billion
    • Increased by 37.5% from 2011 to 2016.
  • Value of farm machinery and equipment: $53.9 billion
    • Increased by 15.4% from 2011 to 2016.
  • Value of livestock: $27.9 billion
    • Increased by 89.4% from 2011 to 2016.
Tractors in Canada, by size, number and value.
Tractor size Total number Share of total number of tractors (%) Value (in million $)
Small (less than 60 p.t.o. hp.)Footnote 1 290,016 44.5% $2.1
Medium (60 to 149 p.t.o. hp.)Footnote 1 256,260 39.3% $7.1
Large (more than 149 p.t.o. hp.)Footnote 1 104,990 16.1% $9.4
Footnote 1

P.T.O. is the measure of the power available from a tractor engine to drive the implements.

Return to first footnote 1 referrer

Source: Census of Agriculture, 2011 and 2016.

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Copyright

Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada.

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2017

All rights reserved. Use of this publication is governed by the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement.

Catalogue no. 11-627-M

Frequency: Occasional

Ottawa

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