Tags: Business - Agriculture

Gap between grain and livestock farms growing

May 19, 2012

WINNIPEG, MB, May 19, 2012/ Troy Media/ – According to Statistics Canada’s 2011 agriculture census there has been a significant shift away from livestock-based farms to crop-based farms, an overall drop in farm number, and an aging group of farm operators.

‘Crop production and beef farming have long been the backbone of Canadian agriculture, but the gap between the two has widened,’ the agency reported.

In 2006, grain and oilseed farms made up 26.9 per cent of all Canadian farms, while beef farms accounted for 26.6 per cent. But in the 2011 report, the number of grain and oilseed farms increased to 30.0 per cent, while beef farms declined to 18.2 per cent.

The census also reported that in 2010 gross farm receipts rose 3.9 per cent from 2005 to $51.1 billion. Grain and oilseed farms reported $18.2 billion in gross farm receipts, a 49.5 per cent increase, representing 35.7 per cent of total receipts. Beef farms reported $7.3 billion, or 14.3 per cent of the total farm receipts.

The 2011 census counted 205,730 census farms, a decline of 23,643 or 10 per cent from the last agriculture census in 2006. The number of farms fell in every province in this time period, except in Nova Scotia, which saw an increase of 2.9 per cent. Farm numbers have been steadily declining since 1941, the agency noted.

The census also reported farm operators are significantly older in 2011, with those aged 55 and older representing the largest share of operators for the first time ever. This group represented 48.3 per cent of Canada’s farmers last year, compared to 40.7 per cent in 2006 and 32.1 per cent in 1991.

Farm operators under 35 accounted for 8.2 per cent in 2011, compared to 9.1 per cent in 2006. Those in the 35 to 54 age group made up 43.5 per cent in 2011, down from 50.2 per cent in 2006.

| Canadian Meat Business

This article is FREE to use on your websites or in your publications. However, Troy Media, with a link to its web site, MUST be credited.  

© Troy Media