31 / 48
Fall
2017
grainswest.com31
ANADIAN AGRICULTURE IS NOT ONLY ALIVE
and well—it’s thriving, according to the 2016 Canadian
Census of Agriculture.
Some media outlets may focus on statistics showing that
Canadian farmers are getting older and that there are fewer
farms in the country, but there is really a very positive message
to be found in the statistics collected in the 2016 census
released earlier this year by Statistics Canada.
“The statistics also show that more young farmers—35 years
of age and younger—are now involved in the industry,” said Levi
Wood, one of those under-35 producers, who farms with family
members in Pense, SK. He is also president of the Western
Canadian Wheat Growers Association.
“We’re seeing more of my generation of farmers either enter
or return to the industry, which is a very positive sign. The
increase over the 2011 agriculture census isn’t huge, but it is a
solid indication that younger farmers do have confidence in the
future of agriculture.
“I think a few years ago the economics of the agriculture
industry was pretty discouraging and younger people were
considering other career choices. As farms have gotten
larger, as technology has improved, as commodity prices
have generally improved, younger farmers are seeing more
opportunity. They are seeing a path to profitability, and that’s
bringing them back.”
Wood said he sees several positive signs in the 2016 census.
More younger farmers are involved in the agriculture industry;
there was also a slight increase in the number of women
operating their own farms; and more acres are being seeded to
annual crops, which shows confidence in the grain and oilseed
sector.
“I believe this is all a very good news story for agriculture,”
said Wood.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The census indicates that while the actual number of farms in
Canada is down about six per cent from 2011 (sitting at 193,492
operations), farms are actually getting larger and farmers are
farming more acres—cropland increased nearly seven per cent
to 93.4 million acres. Most of the increase in cropped acres
resulted from farmers switching from hay, forage and pasture
production to annual crop production, putting summer fallow
land back into crop production and returning western Canadian
acres that were out of production in 2011 due to flooding. The
average farm size across the country has doubled over the
years. Compared with an average of 463 acres in 1971, the
average sat at 820 acres in 2016.
Statistics Canada analyst Erik Dorff points out the total acres
in production and total number of farm operators reflect farm
operations of all sizes that sell or intend to sell agricultural
products—ranging, for example, from a five-acre market
garden to a 15,000-acre grain farm. Future analysis of census
figures, linked to farm incomes, will provide a more detailed
C