Agriculture at a Glance, 1996

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This sub-topic, which uses data taken from the 1996 Census of Agriculture, is primarily an introduction to articles and their accompanying maps found in the 1996 Statistics Canada publication "Canadian Agriculture at a Glance" (Catalogue No. 96-325-XPB).

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Agricultural activity is found throughout virtually all of the settled Canadian landscape, from Windsor, Ontario to Hay River, Northwest Territories and from the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Despite this wide spread of coverage little more than 7% of Canada’s land area is used for farming (and almost 40% of the farmland total is found in Saskatchewan).

The Prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba dominate Canada’s agricultural landscape. They contain 80% of Canada’s farmland and 50% of the total number of farms. The average Prairie farm is at least three times larger than that found anywhere else in Canada. Alberta has the most land in pasture, and the most cattle of any province, while between them Saskatchewan and Manitoba have more land in crops than the rest of Canada combined.

Agricultural activity is more scattered in other parts of Canada. British Columbia has less than 8% of the farms and under 4% of the farm land. Over half of British Columbia's farmland is used for pasture. Ontario and Quebec account for nearly 40% of farms but only 13% of the farmland. Both provinces use more farmland for crops than pasture. The Atlantic Provinces account for less than 2% of the farmland and under 4% of the farms.

Table 1. Average Farm Size, 1996

• Figures do not include farms which produce only Christmas trees, which were enumerated for the first time in the 1996 Census of Agriculture
• The Canada figures do not include data for the Yukon or Northwest Territories
• 1 acre = 0.405 hectares

Table 2. Agricultural Land Use, 1996

• Figures do not include farms which produce only Christmas trees, which were enumerated for the first time in the 1996 Census of Agriculture
• The Canada figures do not include data for the Yukon or Northwest Territories
• The 'Fallow' column refers to Summerfallow
• The 'Other Uses' column refers to land used by buildings and land not in use
• Totals may not add due to rounding
• 1 acre = 0.405 hectares

Significant Crops

Just over half of Canada’s agricultural land is used for crops and more than 80% of the cropland is found in the Prairies. Livestock feed is a significant crop across Canada: hay and fodder are the most common crop in all provinces except the Prairies. Another significant crop is silage corn: almost a quarter of Ontario and Quebec’s cropland was used for grain and silage corn. The most common crop in terms of area seeded was wheat. Over a third of all crop land was seeded with spring and durum wheat, almost all is found in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. In total, over three-quarters of Canada’s crop land was seeded with just five crops: spring wheat, durum wheat, hay and fodder, barley, and canola.

Table 3. Total Area in Crops, 1996

• Figures do not include farms which produce only Christmas trees, which were enumerated for the first time in the 1996 Census of Agriculture
• Figures do not include data for the Yukon or Northwest Territories.
• 1 acre = 0.405 hectares

Table 4. Total Area in Crops, 1996

• Figures do not include farms which produce only Christmas trees, which were enumerated for the first time in the 1996 Census of Agriculture
• Figures do not include data for the Yukon or Northwest Territories.
• 1 acre = 0.405 hectares

The Importance of Livestock

There is a distinct difference in Canadian agriculture as one moves from west to east. Alberta and Saskatchewan combine for three-quarters of Canada’s pasture land. They also contain just over half of the beef cattle. As pasture land in these two provinces tends to be dry, beef cattle require a larger grazing area than on farms in eastern Canada.

Ontario and Quebec have about 70% of the dairy cows and almost a quarter of the beef cattle on less than 10% of Canada’s pasture land. These two provinces also dominate the other livestock types, claiming over half of the pigs and almost 60% of the poultry.

Table 5. Area in Pasture, 1996

• Figures do not include farms which produce only Christmas trees, which were enumerated for the first time in the 1996 Census of Agriculture
• The Canada figures do not include data for the Yukon or Northwest Territories
• 1 acre = 0.405 hectares

Table 6. Cattle and Calves, 1996

• Figures do not include farms which produce only Christmas trees, which were enumerated for the first time in the 1996 Census of Agriculture
• The Canada figures do not include data for the Yukon or Northwest Territories

Table 7. Dairy Cows, 1996

• Figures do not include farms which produce only Christmas trees, which were enumerated for the first time in the 1996 Census of Agriculture
• The Canada figures do not include data for the Yukon or Northwest Territories

Table 8. Pigs, 1996

• Figures do not include farms which produce only Christmas trees, which were enumerated for the first time in the 1996 Census of Agriculture
• The Canada figures do not include data for the Yukon or Northwest Territories

Table 9. Poultry, 1996

• Figures do not include farms which produce only Christmas trees, which were enumerated for the first time in the 1996 Census of Agriculture
• The Canada figures do not include data for the Yukon or Northwest Territories

Agriculture and the Economy

The Census of Agriculture records the number of people involved in primary agriculture activity. Farm operators are defined as those persons responsible for day to day management decisions made in the operation of a census farm or agricultural operation. There can be more than one farm operator on a single farm and farm operators can generate employment income from off-farm work.

• There were 274 955 farms in 1996, a drop of 1.8% from the total number in 1991.
• Total farm cash receipts were $29.2 billion in 1996. They totalled $30.4 billion in 1999.
• In 1996, 48% of all farm cash receipts came from crops while 47% of receipts came from livestock and related products. In 1999 crops accounted for 43%, while livestock and related products rose to 49% of all farm cash receipts.
• Operating expenses after rebates were $22.7 billion for 1996. In 1999 they rose to $24.3 billion.
• The total net income for farm operators was $4.4 billion in 1996. By 1999 the total net income had fallen to $2.9 billion.
• In 1996, there were 387 550 farm operators of which only 230 195 were considered to have an agricultural occupation.
• There were 425 500 people 15 years of age and over employed in the agriculture industry in 1996, just over 3% of all employed people. By 1999 this had fallen to 410 100 people, just under 3% of all employed people.

Exports

Exports of all agricultural products were $20 billion in 1996, just over 7% of all Canadian trade. Total grains and oilseeds made up almost $11 billion of agricultural exports. A further $5 billion was made up of live animals and red meats, both predominately cattle. The top four destinations of agricultural exports were: United States 51%, Japan 11%, European Union 7% and China 6%.

In 1999 agricultural exports rose to $21.7 billion, almost 6% of total trade. Almost $10 billion of agricultural trade was made up of grains and oilseeds. Live animals and red meats, both predominately cattle, made up $4.5 billion of trade. The top five destinations were United States 61%, Japan 9%, European Union 6%, and China 3%.

The Globalization of Agriculture

Considerable changes occurred in federal agricultural assistance just prior to the 1996 Census of Agriculture. In 1995, Canada began to implement the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture. This agreement commits member governments to reduce agricultural export subsidies by 36% and subsidies to specific products by 21% from 1986-90 levels. This first phase of reductions is to conclude by the year 2001.

In accordance with the Uruguay Round Agreement, the federal budget of 1995 ended the Western Grain Transportation Act's subsidy for transporting Prairie grain by rail. In 1996, most agricultural price stabilization programs were ended, including a five-year phase-out of payments to dairy producers.