Sharp decline in number of farms in Ontario

Regional profile of Ontario agriculture

Sharp decline in number of farms in Ontario, according to 2001 Census of Agriculture

The number of census farms in Ontario declined sharply between 1996 and 2001, continuing a long-term trend.

The 2001 Census of Agriculture counted 59,728 census farms in Ontario, an 11.5% decline during the past five years. This was slightly higher than the 10.7% decrease at the national level. The number of farms in Ontario has decreased 27.6% from 82,448 in 1981.

Even with this decline, Ontario still had more census farms than any other province. Alberta was second with 53,652 farms, while Newfoundland and Labrador with 643 had the fewest. (A census farm is an agricultural operation that produces an agricultural product intended for sale.)

Ontario’s share of farms nationwide has declined slightly during the past two decades. In 1981, Ontario accounted for 26% of the national total. By 2001, that share had declined to 24%.

Farm size

While the overall number of farms in Ontario has been declining, the size in terms of area, herd sizes and gross farm receipts has been increasing. The average Ontario farm was 226 acres in 2001, up 9.7% from 1996. Since 1981, the average farm size in Ontario has increased 24.9% from 181 acres.

Ontario’s total farm area has declined 2.7% to 13,507,357 acres since 1996. However, its cropland increased 3.2% to just over 9 million acres, the highest level since 1941. Eastern Ontario led this increase with a gain of 9.2% in cropland.

Farm receipts

Ontario’s total gross farm receipts were just over $9.1 billion in 2000, while operating expenses reached $7.8 billion. While factors such as the commodities they produced, the prices they received and the weather they had to deal with made each farmer’s situation different, in general, expenses rose slightly faster than revenues. Five years earlier, at 1995 prices, receipts were $7.8 billion and expenses were $6.5 billion. (The 2001 Census collected information on gross receipts and expenses for 2000.)

Over the five-year period, prices farmers received for their products increased 1.8%, while prices they paid for expenses such as fertilizer and fuel increased by 8.7%. Farmers squeezed by relative increasing costs had to increase farm productivity to keep the ratio of receipts-to-expenses favourable.

In 2000 in Ontario, the ratio of operating expenses to gross farm receipts was 0.86:1, in other words, 86 cents of operating expenses were spent for every dollar received in gross farm receipts. This compares to 1995, when the expense to gross receipts ratio was 0.84:1. (Expenses collected on the census do not include depreciation.)

The only sales category to experience growth, in terms of farm numbers, between 1995 and 2000 were was farm operations with gross receipts of $250,000 or more. There were 8,989 farms reporting this level of gross receipts for 2000, up 11.0% from 1995. While they accounted for only 15% of all farms in Ontario, they had almost 72% of the total gross receipts reported for the province for the year 2000.

Farm type

Three farm types – cattle (24%), grain and oilseed (22%), and dairy (11%) – made up 57% of all Ontario farms in 2001 with very little change from 1996. In 1996, cattle made up 23%, grain and oilseed, 19%, and dairy, 12%.

Computer use

The proportion of Ontario farms using a computer as a management tool nearly doubled between 1996 and 2001. About 39% of farm operations in the province were using a computer to run their business on Census Day, compared with 21% in 1996.

Three-quarters of farmers used computers for bookkeeping and surfing the Internet, while about two-thirds used them for e-mail. Over 80% of the farming operations with a computer used it for more than one application.

Organic farming

For the first time, farmers were able to report on their census forms that they produced certified organic commodities. (In Canada, a farmer who wishes to become "certified organic" must apply to a recognized certification agency.)

According to the census, there were 405 farms with organic production in Ontario on Census Day, 0.7% of all farms in the province. Only Saskatchewan had more organic farms than Ontario.

The predominant certified organic product grown in Ontario was field crops. They were reported on 76% of the province’s organic farms.

Other highlights of Ontario agriculture:

• Soybean area surged ahead 17.2% since 1996 to just over 2.2 million acres in 2001. Ontario has the largest share of soybean in Canada with 84% of total area.

• Grain Corn area increased 5.7% since 1996 to just over 2 million acres. Ontario has 62% of grain corn area in Canada. Quebec was a distant second with 34% of the total.

• Total cattle declined 6.4% since 1996 and now number just over 2.1 million head. Declines were seen in both the beef and dairy sectors. Ontario ranks third behind Alberta and Saskatchewan in terms of total cattle.

• Total pigs climbed 22.1% since 1996 to 3.5 million head. This is the largest number of pigs that the census has ever recorded in Ontario.

• Dairy farms in Ontario declined 23.9% since 1996 to 6,439 farms in 2001, whereas the number of dairy cows declined by only 10.2% to 363,544 head.

• Total hens and chickens in the province increased 22.6% since 1996 to just over 43.6 million birds. Ontario represents 35% of the total hens and chickens in Canada.

• Sheep and lambs jumped 46.1% since 1996 to just over 337,000 head in 2001. Ontario accounts for 27% of all the sheep and lambs in the nation.

• The area of greenhouses increased 55.4% to 98.4 million square feet since 1996. Ontario represents almost one half (49.8%) of the national area of greenhouses, followed by British Columbia with 25.3%. A large portion of these greenhouses is found in Southern Ontario.

Statistics Canada thanks the Ontario farming community for participating in the 2001 Census of Agriculture.

A full statistical portrait of Canadian agriculture is available in The Daily, Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin, by accessing the Agency’s Website (/).

This press release contains data for the province, census agricultural region (CAR), census division (CD) levels only. The data for the lowest level of geography, census consolidated subdivision (CCS), will be available on June 12, 2002.

For more information on this release, contact Gaye Ward (613 951-3172), Census of Agriculture, or Media Relations (613 951-4636).

Regional profile of Ontario agriculture

Southern Ontario

• The census counted 19,631 farms in Southern Ontario in 2001, down 12.5% from 1996. Southern Ontario accounted for one-third of Ontario’s farms. Average farm size increased from 183 acres to 203 acres, which was the lowest average in the province.

• Southern Ontario accounts for 99% of the tobacco farms in province, 74% of the oilseed farms, 67% of fruit farms, 58% of the grain corn farms and 53% of the vegetable farms.

• Southern Ontario’s total greenhouse area rose 74.4% to 80,364,899 square feet, which was 82% of the province’s total.

• Grape growers continued to expand their vineyards. Ontario farmers had 18,206 acres in grapes in 2001, up from 15,725 in 1996. The vast majority (98%) of grapes are grown in Southern Ontario.

• Total hens and chickens in Southern Ontario increased 14.3% to just over 17.3 million birds. This region accounts for 40% of the total hens and chickens in the province.

Western Ontario

• The census counted 19,191 farms in Western Ontario in 2001, down 9.9%. Western Ontario accounted for just under one-third of the province’s farms.

• Western Ontario had the largest total farm area in the province, just over 4 million acres. Average farm size rose from 197 acres to 212 acres.

• Total hens and chickens in Western Ontario increased 37.1% to just over 19.3 million birds. This region accounts for 44% of the total hens and chickens in the province.

Central Ontario

• The census counted 8,938 farms in Central Ontario, down 14.1% from 1996, the largest decrease in the province. This region accounts for 15% of the farms in the province. Average farm size rose 11.5% to 221 acres, the largest percentage increase.

• A third of the farms in Central Ontario were cattle farms. They accounted for over 20% of the cattle farms in Ontario.

• Sod area increased 38.8% since 1996 to 9,282 acres in Central Ontario. This region makes up 32% of the total sod area in Ontario.

Eastern Ontario

• The census counted 9,333 farms in Eastern Ontario, down 10.9% from 1996. Average farm size increased from 239 acres to 265 acres. This region accounts for 15.6% of the farms in the province.

• This region had the largest percentage increase in cropland in the province. Cropland increased 9.2% to 1.3 million acres from 1996.

• Over one-half the farms in this region were cattle or dairy farms.

• Eastern Ontario represented 28% of Ontario’s dairy farms, and 26% of hay and other fodder crop farms.

Northern Ontario

• The census counted 2,635 farms in Northern Ontario in 2001, down 9.6% from 1996, the smallest decline in the province. Northern Ontario had only 4.4% of the farms in Ontario. Average farm size rose from 352 acres to 384 acres, the province’s biggest average.

• Cattle farms accounted for 42% of all Northern Ontario farms. Hay and other fodder crop farms were a distant second at 18%.