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New farm income record set in 2023, estimates suggest

Despite challenges like drought and war, Canadian farms proved resilient

Canadian farm income may have set a new record in 2023. That's according to the official 2023 and 2024 estimates released February 16 by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.


Growers are starting to feel the pinch of inflation, high interest rates and rising labour costs.

Canadian farm cash receipts rise in 2022, but so do inputs

Total farm operating expenses see largest increase in more than 40 years

Glacier FarmMedia – Farm revenues have been good in 2023 despite falling crop prices, according to Statistics Canada. Farm cash receipts for Canadian farmers totalled $72.5 million over the first three quarters of the year, up 7.9 per cent from the same period in 2022. Why it matters: Farm cash receipts are used to estimate […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Net farm income down in 2022 despite high commodity prices: StatCan

Hike in farm fuel, fertilizer and feed costs is the largest in nearly 50 years

Farmers’ realized net income dropped by over eight per cent in 2022 as expenses outpaced the rise in cash receipts, a new Statistics Canada report says. Realized net income is the difference between cash receipts and operating expenses, minus depreciation and plus income in kind. When cannabis is included, realized net income dropped by nearly […] Read more


Although farm revenues are up, costs are also increasing, said FCC Industry Relations Manager Darlene McBain.

Farm revenues should rise in 2023, but so will costs

Annual FCC Economic Outlook focuses on predicted global economic slowdown

Food price inflation and labour market volatility remain the post-pandemic factors to watch, Farm Credit Canada finance specialists said during the agency’s annual economic outlook Jan. 24. Although challenges like supply chain disruptions and fluctuating input costs have eased somewhat, they will likely have an effect on farm costs and profitability in 2023. Held the […] Read more

(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Alberta poultry sector gets late entry for AgriStability

Participation deadline extended to end of month

In the wake of avian influenza outbreaks in the region, Alberta poultry producers have been granted a late participation option to sign up for the federal/provincial AgriStability income stabilization program. Provincial Ag Minister Nate Horner on Wednesday announced the two levels of government have reached an agreement to allow poultry producers late participation in AgriStability […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Farm cash receipts on the rise, StatCan shows

MarketsFarm — Farm cash receipts improved 13.7 per cent during the first three quarters of 2022, Statistics Canada reported Monday. From January to September, those receipts reached $66.7 billion. That increase of more than $8 billion was due to higher receipts for crops, livestock and program payments. The report noted crop receipts rose 7.3 per […] Read more


(File photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Initial drought list ready for 2022 livestock tax deferrals

Much of Manitoba, southern Alberta designated for 2022

Many of the Prairie livestock producers forced by drought to make “difficult herd management decisions” in the 2022 income tax year are now eligible to defer the taxable income from those decisions. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Tuesday released the initial list of designated regions in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan where livestock tax deferral […] Read more

Bob Speller, shown here in a 2011 campaign video, died Dec. 16, 2021. (Video screengrab via YouTube)

Former federal agriculture minister Bob Speller, 65

Ontario MP served in Paul Martin's cabinet

A memorial will be held next week for Bob Speller, the Ontario businessman who served as Canada’s agriculture minister in the thick of the country’s BSE crisis. Speller, the MP for the southwestern Ontario riding of what’s now Haldimand-Norfolk from 1988 to 2004, died Thursday at age 65. A cause of death wasn’t given in […] Read more