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Understanding Measurements of Farm Income
Introduction
Statistics Canada publishes several measures of farm income, each produced for a different purpose and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada generates an aggregate farm income forecast. This bulletin, prepared jointly by the two organizations, describes the concepts behind these different measures, the methods by which the measures are constructed, and the uses for which they were designed.
The highest-profile series of measures of net farm income are produced in the Farm Income and Prices Section of Statistics Canada's Agriculture Division as part of the agriculture economic statistics program. These annual series measure the aggregate earnings of farmers from the production of agricultural goods in each province. Section 1 of this bulletin deals with these measures as well as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's forecast.
Farm tax records and the Farm Financial Survey are another source of farm income information. Processed in the Whole Farm Data Projects Section of Statistics Canada's Agriculture Division, these data typically present frequency distributions and averages of farm income variables by type of farm and sales class. Section 2 describes the income data from tax sources.
Monthly, quarterly and annual estimates of national farm income and production are published by the System of National Accounts Branch of Statistics Canada and are described in Section 3. Farm income contributes to the economic production and wealth of Canada, although the concepts and definitions surrounding the Canadian System of National Accounts require modifications to the Agriculture Division's farm cash receipts and expenses series before inclusion.
Finally, the Census of Agriculture Section of Statistics Canada's Agriculture Division keeps track of the total sales and expenses of all census farms, as reported every five years in the Census of Agriculture. Since the net farm self-employment income of farm operators is available from the Census of Population through a linkage of the two censuses, these variables are used in cross-sectional and socio-economic analysis of farms and operators. Details can be found in Section 4.
For more information on this publication, please e-mail: Econ_Research@agr.gc.ca.
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Publication: 2060B - ISSN: n/a - ISBN: n/a
Catalogue: 21-525-X1E - Project: n/a