Canola seed, oil and meal. (Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Monthly Canadian canola crush well below average

MarketsFarm — Canada’s monthly canola crush hit its lowest level in 1-1/2 years in February, according to the latest crushing data from Statistics Canada. The agency reported that 635,526 tonnes of canola were crushed in February 2019. That was down by nearly 200,000 tonnes from the January level and compares with the monthly average over […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canaryseed Development Commission of Saskatchewan)

Canary seed holds steady despite food adoption hopes

MarketsFarm — Expectations for canary seed to break beyond birdseed into the food market haven’t yet translated to substantially higher prices for the crop. Canary seed was designated safe for human consumption in 2016, after which Saskatchewan’s then-agriculture minister Lyle Stewart predicted acreage dedicated to the crop would increase as it was incorporated into more […] Read more

Statistics Canada data shows 16.1 percent of farm households are now in urban areas.

Canadian farmers by birth and education

Recent Statistics Canada releases show that Dutch farmers continue to choose Canada as a destination

Statistics Canada has recently linked the 2016 Census of Agriculture data with household data to come up with several demographic portraits of Canadian farmers. Here is a look at what the data says on birth origin and education of farmers. Dutch farmers continue to move to Canada Canadian farmers overwhelmingly identify themselves as Canadian by […] Read more

Income from spouses and grown children have contributed significantly to farm household income.

Farm households earning more – but is it coming from the farm?

Changes in farm structure and rural opportunities have boosted the income of Canadians who live on farms

Canadian farm family incomes have pulled ahead of other Canadian households by a large margin, but it may have more to do with off-farm revenue sources than it does higher returns from farming. The median income reported by farm households is now 17.3 per cent more than the median recorded by non-farm workers, which is […] Read more

Red Barn at Sunset

Editorial: Healthy farm households

Statistics Canada says that farm households are doing much better than they did a generation or two ago. And that’s something to celebrate. Our cover story in our Feb. 11 issue of Farmtario looks at the broader societal trends around the dramatic increase in farm household income over the past 50 years. Median farm income […] Read more


(Bondarillia/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Nothing new in India

Very little has changed for Canadian pulses in terms of exports to India, according to an analyst. Meanwhile, Canadian stocks of dry field peas and lentils are still relatively large, according to Statistics Canada. India in 2017 imposed import duties to protect its domestic pulse industry and is rumoured to be solidifying those duties, according […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

StatsCan canola stocks numbers point to big carryout

As two analysts looked at Statistics Canada’s latest report on total stocks of principal field crops, they immediately zeroed in on canola. Statistics Canada’s report, released Tuesday, shows canola stocks as of Dec. 31, 2018 were at 14.553 million tonnes, up 4.9 per cent from year-earlier levels, “The numbers are sort of in line with […] Read more

Fall rye flowering near Deerwood, Man. on June 7, 2018. (Allan Dawson photo)

Quebec rye production on the rise

CNS Canada — Rye production was up in Quebec in 2018, one reason being producers supplying hybrid rye for feed to the province’s hog industry. “Feed was coming from out west, but now we’re starting to produce the seed itself here,” said Andre Lussier, who farms near St. Hyacinthe, Que. and is a director with […] Read more