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Section 5 - Techniques and technology, Canada and provinces: census years 1991 to 2006

  • Canada
  • Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Nova Scotia
  • New Brunswick
  • Quebec

  • Ontario
  • Manitoba
  • Saskatchewan
  • Alberta
  • British Columbia

    • Canada

    Table 5.1
    Tillage practices used to prepare land for seeding, Canada and provinces, census years 1991 to 2006
    Canada 1991 1996 2001 2006
    Total land prepared for seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 210,350 181,817 167,325 147,501
    Area in acres 71,731,650 70,901,537 73,472,899 71,781,032
    Area in hectares 29,028,766 28,692,831 29,733,424 29,048,749
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
    Tillage incorporating most of the crop residue into the soil  empty cell
    Farms reporting 174,888 136,912 116,647 87,204
    Area in acres 49,387,997 37,891,867 29,750,778 20,114,443
    Area in hectares 19,986,611 15,334,293 12,039,711 8,140,025
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 68.9 53.4 40.5 28.0
    Tillage retaining most of the crop residue on the surface  empty cell
    Farms reporting 45,429 53,624 46,725 43,495
    Area in acres 17,522,247 21,663,137 21,918,819 18,354,767
    Area in hectares 7,091,001 8,766,760 8,870,230 7,427,910
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 24.4 30.6 29.8 25.6
    No-till seeding or zero-till seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 17,556 26,919 36,740 43,715
    Area in acres 4,821,406 11,346,533 21,803,302 33,311,822
    Area in hectares 1,951,154 4,591,779 8,823,482 13,480,814
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 6.7 16.0 29.7 46.4

    Symbols

    • x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act
    • 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero
    • xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class
    • .. not available for a specific reference period
    • ...not applicable

    Notes

    When comparing the data on tillage practices to previous censuses, calculating each practice as a percentage of "Total land prepared for seeding" is recommended, since the "Total land prepared for seeding" varies over time.

    The terms "conventional tillage" and "conservation tillage" were used on the 1991 questionnaire, but have been dropped since 1996. However, the descriptions of these two tillage practices were identical on all questionnaires. Therefore, the data are comparable.

    Source

    Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

    Newfoundland and Labrador

    Table 5.1
    Tillage practices used to prepare land for seeding, Canada and provinces, census years 1991 to 2006
    Newfoundland and Labrador 1991 1996 2001 2006
    Total land prepared for seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 329 284 307 262
    Area in acres 5,065 2,635 4,998 5,883
    Area in hectares 2,050 1,066 2,023 2,381
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
    Tillage incorporating most of the crop residue into the soil  empty cell
    Farms reporting 292 246 249 208
    Area in acres 4,260 2,310 3,741 5,195
    Area in hectares 1,724 935 1,514 2,102
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 84.1 87.7 74.8 88.3
    Tillage retaining most of the crop residue on the surface  empty cell
    Farms reporting 32 46 56 44
    Area in acres 388 219 656 354
    Area in hectares 157 89 265 143
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 7.7 8.3 13.1 6.0
    No-till seeding or zero-till seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 28 14 63 39
    Area in acres 417 106 601 334
    Area in hectares 169 43 243 135
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 8.2 4.0 12.0 5.7

    Symbols

    • x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act
    • 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero
    • xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class
    • .. not available for a specific reference period
    • ...not applicable

    Notes

    When comparing the data on tillage practices to previous censuses, calculating each practice as a percentage of "Total land prepared for seeding" is recommended, since the "Total land prepared for seeding" varies over time.

    The terms "conventional tillage" and "conservation tillage" were used on the 1991 questionnaire, but have been dropped since 1996. However, the descriptions of these two tillage practices were identical on all questionnaires. Therefore, the data are comparable.

    Source

    Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

    Prince Edward Island

    Table 5.1
    Tillage practices used to prepare land for seeding, Canada and provinces, census years 1991 to 2006
    Prince Edward Island 1991 1996 2001 2006
    Total land prepared for seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 1,867 1,607 1,362 1,135
    Area in acres 276,066 288,684 294,652 271,746
    Area in hectares 111,720 116,826 119,241 109,972
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
    Tillage incorporating most of the crop residue into the soil  empty cell
    Farms reporting 1,755 1,416 1,227 986
    Area in acres 251,851 236,609 224,665 211,603
    Area in hectares 101,920 95,752 90,919 85,633
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 91.2 82.0 76.2 77.9
    Tillage retaining most of the crop residue on the surface  empty cell
    Farms reporting 191 316 304 238
    Area in acres 21,698 46,914 64,905 52,172
    Area in hectares 8,781 18,985 26,266 21,113
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 7.9 16.3 22.0 19.2
    No-till seeding or zero-till seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 87 56 43 60
    Area in acres 2,517 5,161 5,082 7,971
    Area in hectares 1,019 2,089 2,057 3,226
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 0.9 1.8 1.7 2.9

    Symbols

    • x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act
    • 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero
    • xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class
    • .. not available for a specific reference period
    • ...not applicable

    Notes

    When comparing the data on tillage practices to previous censuses, calculating each practice as a percentage of "Total land prepared for seeding" is recommended, since the "Total land prepared for seeding" varies over time.

    The terms "conventional tillage" and "conservation tillage" were used on the 1991 questionnaire, but have been dropped since 1996. However, the descriptions of these two tillage practices were identical on all questionnaires. Therefore, the data are comparable.

    Source

    Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

    Nova Scotia

    Table 5.1
    Tillage practices used to prepare land for seeding, Canada and provinces, census years 1991 to 2006
    Nova Scotia 1991 1996 2001 2006
    Total land prepared for seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 1,873 1,288 1,471 1,354
    Area in acres 78,243 59,054 75,462 65,869
    Area in hectares 31,664 23,898 30,538 26,656
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
    Tillage incorporating most of the crop residue into the soil  empty cell
    Farms reporting 1,711 1,140 1,290 1,058
    Area in acres 69,120 45,725 53,841 43,422
    Area in hectares 27,972 18,504 21,789 17,572
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 88.3 77.4 71.3 65.9
    Tillage retaining most of the crop residue on the surface  empty cell
    Farms reporting 207 212 221 278
    Area in acres 6,123 11,562 15,372 13,401
    Area in hectares 2,478 4,679 6,221 5,423
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 7.8 19.6 20.4 20.3
    No-till seeding or zero-till seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 138 69 135 181
    Area in acres 3,000 1,767 6,249 9,046
    Area in hectares 1,214 715 2,529 3,661
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 3.8 3.0 8.3 13.7

    Symbols

    • x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act
    • 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero
    • xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class
    • .. not available for a specific reference period
    • ...not applicable

    Notes

    When comparing the data on tillage practices to previous censuses, calculating each practice as a percentage of "Total land prepared for seeding" is recommended, since the "Total land prepared for seeding" varies over time.

    The terms "conventional tillage" and "conservation tillage" were used on the 1991 questionnaire, but have been dropped since 1996. However, the descriptions of these two tillage practices were identical on all questionnaires. Therefore, the data are comparable.

    Source

    Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

    New Brunswick

    Table 5.1
    Tillage practices used to prepare land for seeding, Canada and provinces, census years 1991 to 2006
    New Brunswick 1991 1996 2001 2006
    Total land prepared for seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 1,793 1,463 1,521 1,331
    Area in acres 152,417 144,415 168,099 162,425
    Area in hectares 61,681 58,443 68,027 65,731
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
    Tillage incorporating most of the crop residue into the soil  empty cell
    Farms reporting 1,668 1,299 1,339 1,095
    Area in acres 129,942 114,812 138,113 126,627
    Area in hectares 52,586 46,463 55,892 51,244
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 85.3 79.5 82.2 78.0
    Tillage retaining most of the crop residue on the surface  empty cell
    Farms reporting 216 268 246 298
    Area in acres 19,049 26,555 24,916 27,505
    Area in hectares 7,709 10,746 10,083 11,131
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 12.5 18.4 14.8 16.9
    No-till seeding or zero-till seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 93 94 125 113
    Area in acres 3,426 3,048 5,070 8,293
    Area in hectares 1,386 1,233 2,052 3,356
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 2.2 2.1 3.0 5.1

    Symbols

    • x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act
    • 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero
    • xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class
    • .. not available for a specific reference period
    • ...not applicable

    Notes

    When comparing the data on tillage practices to previous censuses, calculating each practice as a percentage of "Total land prepared for seeding" is recommended, since the "Total land prepared for seeding" varies over time.

    The terms "conventional tillage" and "conservation tillage" were used on the 1991 questionnaire, but have been dropped since 1996. However, the descriptions of these two tillage practices were identical on all questionnaires. Therefore, the data are comparable.

    Source

    Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

    Quebec

    Table 5.1
    Tillage practices used to prepare land for seeding, Canada and provinces, census years 1991 to 2006
    Quebec 1991 1996 2001 2006
    Total land prepared for seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 25,637 21,008 20,899 18,873
    Area in acres 2,105,144 2,051,947 2,766,861 2,789,945
    Area in hectares 851,921 830,393 1,119,709 1,129,051
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
    Tillage incorporating most of the crop residue into the soil  empty cell
    Farms reporting 24,204 18,696 18,612 14,865
    Area in acres 1,792,763 1,643,948 2,122,426 1,728,426
    Area in hectares 725,505 665,282 858,915 699,469
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 85.2 80.1 76.7 62.0
    Tillage retaining most of the crop residue on the surface  empty cell
    Farms reporting 3,238 3,355 4,505 6,184
    Area in acres 258,998 320,777 511,785 794,134
    Area in hectares 104,813 129,814 207,112 321,375
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 12.3 15.6 18.5 28.5
    No-till seeding or zero-till seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 1,296 1,865 1,797 2,597
    Area in acres 53,383 87,222 132,650 267,385
    Area in hectares 21,603 35,297 53,682 108,207
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 2.5 4.3 4.8 9.6

    Symbols

    • x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act
    • 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero
    • xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class
    • .. not available for a specific reference period
    • ...not applicable

    Notes

    When comparing the data on tillage practices to previous censuses, calculating each practice as a percentage of "Total land prepared for seeding" is recommended, since the "Total land prepared for seeding" varies over time.

    The terms "conventional tillage" and "conservation tillage" were used on the 1991 questionnaire, but have been dropped since 1996. However, the descriptions of these two tillage practices were identical on all questionnaires. Therefore, the data are comparable.

    Source

    Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

    Ontario

    Table 5.1
    Tillage practices used to prepare land for seeding, Canada and provinces, census years 1991 to 2006
    Ontario 1991 1996 2001 2006
    Total land prepared for seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 50,047 44,077 41,775 38,676
    Area in acres 6,198,253 6,167,161 6,669,735 6,670,555
    Area in hectares 2,508,344 2,495,761 2,699,146 2,699,477
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
    Tillage incorporating most of the crop residue into the soil  empty cell
    Farms reporting 44,664 36,130 32,463 26,893
    Area in acres 4,846,165 3,667,924 3,452,834 2,929,031
    Area in hectares 1,961,173 1,484,356 1,397,312 1,185,337
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 78.2 59.5 51.8 43.9
    Tillage retaining most of the crop residue on the surface  empty cell
    Farms reporting 9,730 11,472 10,557 11,341
    Area in acres 1,102,043 1,374,771 1,444,045 1,657,893
    Area in hectares 445,981 556,350 584,384 670,925
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 17.8 22.3 21.7 24.9
    No-till seeding or zero-till seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 3,850 8,374 12,055 12,637
    Area in acres 250,045 1,124,466 1,772,856 2,083,631
    Area in hectares 101,190 455,055 717,449 843,215
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 4.0 18.2 26.6 31.2

    Symbols

    • x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act
    • 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero
    • xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class
    • .. not available for a specific reference period
    • ...not applicable

    Notes

    When comparing the data on tillage practices to previous censuses, calculating each practice as a percentage of "Total land prepared for seeding" is recommended, since the "Total land prepared for seeding" varies over time.

    The terms "conventional tillage" and "conservation tillage" were used on the 1991 questionnaire, but have been dropped since 1996. However, the descriptions of these two tillage practices were identical on all questionnaires. Therefore, the data are comparable.

    Source

    Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

    Manitoba

    Table 5.1
    Tillage practices used to prepare land for seeding, Canada and provinces, census years 1991 to 2006
    Manitoba 1991 1996 2001 2006
    Total land prepared for seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 20,977 17,567 14,876 12,840
    Area in acres 10,425,498 9,781,661 9,693,855 9,613,927
    Area in hectares 4,219,049 3,958,497 3,922,964 3,890,618
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
    Tillage incorporating most of the crop residue into the soil  empty cell
    Farms reporting 16,112 13,019 10,250 7,643
    Area in acres 6,912,686 6,196,544 5,280,248 4,174,437
    Area in hectares 2,797,464 2,507,652 2,136,840 1,689,335
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 66.3 63.3 54.5 43.4
    Tillage retaining most of the crop residue on the surface  empty cell
    Farms reporting 6,002 5,458 4,682 4,523
    Area in acres 2,988,719 2,691,876 3,163,890 3,388,755
    Area in hectares 1,209,492 1,089,363 1,280,381 1,371,380
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 28.7 27.5 32.6 35.2
    No-till seeding or zero-till seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 1,805 1,958 1,996 2,453
    Area in acres 524,093 893,241 1,249,717 2,050,735
    Area in hectares 212,093 361,482 505,742 829,903
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 5.0 9.1 12.9 21.3

    Symbols

    • x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act
    • 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero
    • xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class
    • .. not available for a specific reference period
    • ...not applicable

    Notes

    When comparing the data on tillage practices to previous censuses, calculating each practice as a percentage of "Total land prepared for seeding" is recommended, since the "Total land prepared for seeding" varies over time.

    The terms "conventional tillage" and "conservation tillage" were used on the 1991 questionnaire, but have been dropped since 1996. However, the descriptions of these two tillage practices were identical on all questionnaires. Therefore, the data are comparable.

    Source

    Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

    Saskatchewan

    Table 5.1
    Tillage practices used to prepare land for seeding, Canada and provinces, census years 1991 to 2006
    Saskatchewan 1991 1996 2001 2006
    Total land prepared for seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 56,897 50,918 44,009 35,963
    Area in acres 32,210,142 33,202,335 34,827,771 32,984,104
    Area in hectares 13,034,981 13,436,507 14,094,297 13,348,192
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
    Tillage incorporating most of the crop residue into the soil  empty cell
    Farms reporting 41,916 32,001 24,253 14,210
    Area in acres 20,592,996 15,036,366 11,300,237 6,036,996
    Area in hectares 8,333,689 6,085,001 4,573,043 2,443,085
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 63.9 45.3 32.4 18.3
    Tillage retaining most of the crop residue on the surface  empty cell
    Farms reporting 15,810 19,954 14,489 10,267
    Area in acres 8,274,250 10,915,424 10,036,457 7,107,149
    Area in hectares 3,348,470 4,417,315 4,061,610 2,876,161
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 25.7 32.9 28.8 21.5
    No-till seeding or zero-till seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 7,659 10,690 13,248 15,448
    Area in acres 3,342,896 7,250,545 13,491,077 19,839,959
    Area in hectares 1,352,822 2,934,191 5,459,645 8,028,946
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 10.4 21.8 38.7 60.2

    Symbols

    • x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act
    • 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero
    • xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class
    • .. not available for a specific reference period
    • ...not applicable

    Notes

    When comparing the data on tillage practices to previous censuses, calculating each practice as a percentage of "Total land prepared for seeding" is recommended, since the "Total land prepared for seeding" varies over time.

    The terms "conventional tillage" and "conservation tillage" were used on the 1991 questionnaire, but have been dropped since 1996. However, the descriptions of these two tillage practices were identical on all questionnaires. Therefore, the data are comparable.

    Source

    Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

    Alberta

    Table 5.1
    Tillage practices used to prepare land for seeding, Canada and provinces, census years 1991 to 2006
    Alberta 1991 1996 2001 2006
    Total land prepared for seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 44,322 39,107 35,006 30,725
    Area in acres 19,685,388 18,761,116 18,465,784 18,726,144
    Area in hectares 7,966,393 7,592,353 7,472,837 7,578,201
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
    Tillage incorporating most of the crop residue into the soil  empty cell
    Farms reporting 36,838 29,123 22,041 15,930
    Area in acres 14,291,324 10,657,824 6,847,096 4,589,714
    Area in hectares 5,783,493 4,313,068 2,770,921 1,857,391
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 72.6 56.8 37.1 24.5
    Tillage retaining most of the crop residue on the surface  empty cell
    Farms reporting 9,249 11,804 10,863 8,956
    Area in acres 4,779,955 6,166,922 6,550,489 5,185,594
    Area in hectares 1,934,379 2,495,665 2,650,889 2,098,535
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 24.3 32.9 35.5 27.7
    No-till seeding or zero-till seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 1,976 3,455 6,490 9,121
    Area in acres 614,109 1,936,370 5,068,199 8,950,836
    Area in hectares 248,521 783,621 2,051,027 3,622,274
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 3.1 10.3 27.4 47.8

    Symbols

    • x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act
    • 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero
    • xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class
    • .. not available for a specific reference period
    • ...not applicable

    Notes

    When comparing the data on tillage practices to previous censuses, calculating each practice as a percentage of "Total land prepared for seeding" is recommended, since the "Total land prepared for seeding" varies over time.

    The terms "conventional tillage" and "conservation tillage" were used on the 1991 questionnaire, but have been dropped since 1996. However, the descriptions of these two tillage practices were identical on all questionnaires. Therefore, the data are comparable.

    Source

    Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

    British Columbia

    Table 5.1
    Tillage practices used to prepare land for seeding, Canada and provinces, census years 1991 to 2006
    British Columbia 1991 1996 2001 2006
    Total land prepared for seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 6,608 4,498 6,099 6,342
    Area in acres 595,434 442,529 505,682 490,434
    Area in hectares 240,964 179,085 204,642 198,472
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
    Tillage incorporating most of the crop residue into the soil  empty cell
    Farms reporting 5,728 3,842 4,923 4,316
    Area in acres 496,890 289,805 327,577 268,992
    Area in hectares 201,084 117,280 132,566 108,857
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 83.5 65.5 64.8 54.8
    Tillage retaining most of the crop residue on the surface  empty cell
    Farms reporting 754 739 802 1,366
    Area in acres 71,024 108,117 106,304 127,810
    Area in hectares 28,742 43,753 43,020 51,723
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 11.9 24.4 21.0 26.1
    No-till seeding or zero-till seeding  empty cell
    Farms reporting 624 344 788 1,066
    Area in acres 27,520 44,607 71,801 93,632
    Area in hectares 11,137 18,052 29,057 37,892
    Percentage of total land prepared for seeding 4.6 10.1 14.2 19.1

    Symbols

    • x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act
    • 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero
    • xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class
    • .. not available for a specific reference period
    • ...not applicable

    Notes

    When comparing the data on tillage practices to previous censuses, calculating each practice as a percentage of "Total land prepared for seeding" is recommended, since the "Total land prepared for seeding" varies over time.

    The terms "conventional tillage" and "conservation tillage" were used on the 1991 questionnaire, but have been dropped since 1996. However, the descriptions of these two tillage practices were identical on all questionnaires. Therefore, the data are comparable.

    Source

    Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.
    Date Modified: 2009-01-30

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