Statistics Canada has released the first in a series of analytical articles based on the 2016 Census of Agriculture data.
The document, A portrait of a 21st Century agricultural operation, is now available online.
Stats Can notes that farming has evolved into an innovative career choice requiring knowledge of business management and technology, as well as the agricultural sciences.
Driven by competition and aided by technology, the number of Canadian agricultural operations is decreasing and the agricultural operations that remain are larger and more capital intensive.
The 2016 Census of Agriculture recorded 193,492 agricultural operations, down 5.9% from 2011, and 271,935 farm operators, a decline of 7.5%.
While there are fewer agricultural operations and farm operators, agricultural operations are getting larger and using more of Canada’s available agricultural land to grow crops. The area of cropland increased by 6.9% from 2011 to 93.4 million acres in 2016.
Other links of note:
Based on the data from the 2016 Census of Agriculture, the infographic A Portrait of Canadian Farms gives a visual overview of farm and farm operator characteristics in Canada.
The national snapshot 2016 Census of Agriculture and provincial highlights are also available online.
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