Farmers Are Adapting to Evolving Markets

The total value of capital owned or rented by Canadian farms totalled $509.7 billion in 2016, up 36.8% since 2011, mainly driven by the increase in the value of land and buildings. [...] At the same time, the cost of inputs for this type of production have been increasing, resulting in a less favourable expense-to-receipt ratio in 2015 compared with 2010. [...] Among specialty crops, dry pea and bean type farms had the most favourable ratio in 2015 at 0.71, the result of an increase in commodity price that outpaced a rise in the cost of inputs between 2010 and 2015. [...] The dairy and milk sector accounted for more than one-quarter of all receipts in the province in 2015. [...] A more favourable ratio in the hog sector, which accounted for 16.8% of Manitoba’s receipts in 2015, contributed to the more favourable ratio provincially.