Farm operating revenues and expenses, 2017 (revised data)

Released: 2019-03-29

Average operating revenues per farm in Canada totalled $479,226 in 2017, while average operating expenses were $391,218, according to taxation records. As a result, average net operating income was $88,008.

Crop revenues accounted for 48.5% of the total operating revenues earned by Canadian farms in 2017, while livestock revenues comprised 41.0% of the total. The remainder came from program payments and insurance proceeds, and from other revenues such as custom work and machine rental.

Hog and pig operations posted the highest average operating revenues per farm among the 11 major farm types at $2.1 million, followed by potato farms ($1.8 million) and poultry and egg farms ($1.3 million). Greenhouse, nursery and floriculture production was the only other farm type where average operating revenues topped $1 million.

Chart 1 
Average operating revenues, by farm type, Canada, 2017

Oilseed and grain farms have the highest average operating margin among farm types

Overall, 4 of the 11 major farm types posted average operating profit margins—the ratio of net operating income to operating revenues, measured in cents per dollar of revenue—above the national average of 18.4 cents per dollar of revenue. Canada's oilseed and grain farms ranked first at 24.1 cents per dollar of revenue. Potato farms were second at 21.9 cents, followed closely by other crop farms and dairy farms.

In contrast, the average operating margin of beef cattle farms was 8.9 cents per dollar of revenue, the lowest observed.

Chart 2 
Average operating profit margin, by farm type, Canada, 2017

Saskatchewan has the highest average operating profit margin in the country

Among the provinces, Saskatchewan reported the highest average operating margin (23.0 cents per dollar of revenue), the result of a high concentration of oilseed and grain farms. In Manitoba, the average operating margin yielded 20.4 cents per dollar of revenue, as the province also has a high concentration of oilseed and grain farms.

Conversely, Nova Scotia reported the lowest average operating profit margin at 12.1 cents per dollar of revenue, due in part to the low average profit margin of beef cattle farms and the negative average profit margin of farms primarily engaged in other animal production.

Chart 3 
Average operating profit margin, by province, 2017

Average net operating income highest in Manitoba

Farms in Manitoba posted the highest average net operating income in 2017 at $120,288, followed by farms in Saskatchewan ($107,355) and Prince Edward Island ($104,113). Oilseed and grain farms, and hog farms played a significant part in the higher levels of net operating income in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Overall, four provinces fell below the national average of $88,008: Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia.

Contact information

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