January-June Farm Cash Receipts Up 3.3%

Aug 29, 2025

Canadian farm cash receipts through the first two quarters of 2025 were up slightly from the same period a year earlier, thanks mainly to strong livestock returns.

A Statistics Canada report Friday pegged total farm cash receipts in the January-June period at $49.6 billion, up $1.6 billion or 3.3% from the previous year.

But it was livestock that led the way. Total livestock receipts rose 10.8% or $2.1 billion to $21.3 billion in the first two quarters, on account of higher prices for all livestock types except poultry. On the other hand, crop receipts were little changed – inching up $80.2 million or 0.3% - to $25.9 billion. Meanwhile, program payments declined, falling $584.5 million or 20% to $2.3 billion.

While cash receipts increased for most crops in the January-June period, StatsCan said those gains were offset by reduced receipts for barley and lower liquidations of deferred crop sales in Western Canada.

Total oilseed receipts through the first two quarters of 2025 were up from a year earlier due to higher marketings, StatsCan said. Canola receipts increased by $76.4 million from a year earlier to $6.35 billion, while soybean receipts climbed $103.2 million to $1.28 billion. “An abundant supply of soybeans” put downward pressure on oilseed prices, moderating the gain in receipts, the federal agency added.

Cereal and grain receipts increased in the first two quarters on higher receipts for durum wheat, which increased $197.2 million to $1.02 billion. Wheat (excluding durum) receipts were up $122.9 million to $4.3 billion. For most grain crops, higher marketings drove the rise in receipts while lower prices moderated gains, StatsCan said. Meanwhile, receipts for barley fell $110.1 million to $526. 1 million, as prices and marketings both declined.

On the livestock side, cattle receipts soared $1.2 billion to $8.56 billion through the first two quarters of 2025, while hog receipts jumped $436.4 million to $3.55 billion. Combined, cattle and hogs accounted for roughly 80% of the rise in overall livestock receipts.

Click here to see more...

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.