OTTAWA — The dollars are getting bigger in agriculture but a farmer’s realized net income is shrinking as farm expenses rise faster than farm cash receipts, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada.
Realized net income is the difference between a farmer’s cash receipts and operating expenses, minus depreciation, plus income in kind (income other than money). By that measure, Canadian farmers did worse last year, with realized net income on farms falling 9.5 % to $12.5 billion.
But Ontario farmers did better. In fact, Ontario farmers bucked the trend with a realized net income increase of 4.1 % over 2021.
Nationally, total farm cash receipts actually increased by 14.8% over 2021. Canadian farmers collected higher crop revenue (up $7.2 billion) and livestock revenue (up $3.6 billion) in 2022, but this was outpaced by a 21.2 % increase in input costs, including fertilizer, feed and fuel.
Collectively, Ontario farmers had a realized net income of $2.3 billion, third highest in the country. Saskatchewan farmers had the highest realized net income at $4.5 billion, followed by Alberta farmers at $3.3 billion.
Source : Farmersforum