A census farm is an agricultural operation that produces at least one of the following products intended for sale: crops (field crops, tree fruits or nuts, berries or grapes, vegetables, seed); livestock (cattle, pigs, sheep, horses, exotic animals, etc.); poultry (hens, chickens, turkeys, exotic birds, etc.); animal products (milk or cream, eggs, wool, furs, meat); or other agricultural products (greenhouse or nursery products, Christmas trees, mushrooms, sod, honey, maple syrup products).

The definition of a census farm was expanded for the 1996 Census of Agriculture to include commercial poultry hatcheries and operations that produced only Christmas trees. Across Canada, a total of 138 commercial poultry hatcheries and 1,593 operations producing only Christmas trees were counted for the first time as census farms.

Farm operators are those persons responsible for the day-to-day management decisions made in the operation of a census farm or agricultural operation.

Notes on Data Tables

1. This is a count of distinct operators; hence, operators of two or more separate farms were included only once in the total. This is the primary reason why, for example, the number of operators of farms with one operator is less than the number of farms run by sole operators.
2. Due to response errors, the data for paid work not related to the agricultural operation are slightly underestimated.
3. Because farm operators were permitted to indicate more than one type of business for each "other business operated," the sum of the figures for all types of other businesses operated may exceed the sum of the figures for one and two or more "other businesses operated."
4. The number of operators performing non-farm work in 1995 includes all those who reported either paid work not related to the agricultural operation or operating a business other than farming. For 1990, the number of operators performing non-farm work includes only those who reported one or more days of work off the holding for pay. This change in definition affects the comparability of the 1990 and 1995 data.

• nil or zero