Canadian farm debt increased the most in almost two decades this past year.
A Statistics Canada farm income report released earlier this week estimated nationwide farm debt at the end of 2024 at $166.7 billion, up 14.1% from a year earlier and largest annual increase since 1981 when it jumped almost 15% to $18.3 billion.
Alberta farm debt soared 17.2% or about $5.6 billion from a year earlier to $37.4 billion in 2024, while Ontario farm debt increased about $5.1 billion or 13.5% to $42.8 billion. Manitoba farm debt was up 13.7% to $13.9 billion, while Saskatchewan debt increased 13.2% to $24.4 billion.
With debt rising, interest rate expenses as a share of total farm operating expenses also jumped to a multi-year high - up to 11.5%, the most since 12% in 1987 (see graph below).
This past year was a difficult one for Canadian farmers overall, with national realized net income tumbling $3.3 billion or almost 26% to $9.4 billion. It was the largest percentage decrease in realized net income since 2018.
Meanwhile, total farm operating expenses (after rebates) rose 2.4% to $78.3 billion in 2024.
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