Canada Markets

Statistics Canada's recent Canadian Business Patterns report, released semi-annually, attempts to classify farm operations on the basis of their production, by province. The attached chart shows selected Canadian data, which provides a glimpse into the number of producers specializing in various commodities relative to other commodities.

The NAISC classification system within Statistics Canada first divides the entire Canadian economy into 20 sectors, while it also categorized individual operations on the basis of their economic activities. In the case of a farm producing a number of crops, classification is done by focusing on the share of value-added to the overall enterprise.

The largest category shown in Canada on the attached chart, claiming the highest number of participants, is beef cattle ranching and farming, which also includes feedlots, with 24,571 participants. The next highest is the other grain farming category, which is a catch-all for smaller crops such as oats and barley among others that do not have their own classification, totaling 23,485.

Ontario claims the highest number of corn and soybean producers, at 2,804 and 3,121, respectively; 4,569 Ontario producers are also classified as other grain farming, while 3,575 producers are classified as beef cattle producers; 468 operations are classified as tobacco operations, while 962 operations are built around hay production.

Manitoba data includes 222 soybean growers and 49 operations listed as corn operations; 1,977 operations are categorized as oilseed operations, while an even larger group, 3,265 are categorized as other grain farming, which represent a number of crops combined that do not have their own classification. Another 995 operations are categorized as wheat growing operations, while 2,842 farms are classed as livestock producers. Considering wheat, oilseed and other grain categories combined, Manitoba makes up approximately 14% of the country's operations in the same three categories.

The largest operations in Saskatchewan are focused on other grain farming (8,938), oilseed (except soybeans)(6,410) and wheat (4,829). Combined, the farm operations within these three categories in Saskatchewan make up close to 45% of the country's farm operations in these categories. Dry pea and bean operations make up an additional 934 operations, while enterprises focusing on hay production make up an additional 831 operations.

The largest category of farm operations in Alberta is the beef cattle ranching category, which includes 8,898 operations. Oilseed operations (3,876), wheat farming (2,479) and other grain farming (5,464) combine to represent 26% of Canada's totals in these categories.

British Columbia indicates 1,223 operations which focus on beef cattle ranching or the feedlot sector, while 814 enterprises focus on hay production. Other grain farming makes up an additional 177 farms, while there are just 89 operations classified as wheat operations.

The Statistics Canada table involved, CANSIM 551-004, does not allow for generating this data from past years, as they indicated that methodology changes over the years would not allow for direct comparisons of time-series data.

Cliff Jamieson can be reached at cliff.jamieson@telventdtn.com

(ES)

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