From Livestock to Crops, Canadian Farms See Financial Growth
By Liam Nolan
Although the total number of farms in Canada has decreased by around 18,000, the average net worth per farm has more than doubled since 2009, growing to roughly $3.9 million in 2023, up from about $1.5 million.
The average annual revenue per farm has also more than doubled in the same period, increasing to about $883,000 from $372,000, according to Statistics Canada.
This data was included in StatCan’s recently updated 2023 Farm Financial Survey (FFS). The survey is an initiative by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and StatCan, “providing data on farm assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses, capital investments and capital sales.”
Since 2009, the net worth of hog farms grew 202 per cent, dairy cattle and milk production farms grew 140 per cent, there was a 137 per cent increase for beef cattle ranching and farming (including feedlots), and a 104 per cent increase for poultry and egg production farms.
As for crops, there was a 188 per cent increase in the net worth of grain and oilseed farms, a 180 per cent increase for potato farms, a 172 per cent increase for greenhouse, nursery and floriculture farms, a 106 per cent increase for fruit and nut farms, and a 103 per cent increase for other vegetable and melon farms.
StatCan also found growth in on-farm investment. The survey shows an 89 per cent increase in total capital investments, a 61 per cent increase in total capital sales, and a 102 per cent increase in net capital investments into or on Canadian farms between 2009 and 2023.
The sample size is approximately 10,000 farms and the target population for the survey consists of all Canadian agriculture operations that are active at the end of the reference year.
2025 is the next survey year, and with all of the tariff strife, it will likely not paint the same rosy picture.