We are now starting to get the preliminary financials on how Canadian farms made out in 2024.
StatsCan issued what it calls its preliminary realized net farm income this week. Generally, it was down, reflecting lower crop prices last year.
In Saskatchewan, total revenues or the top line fell $1.3 billion to just over $21 billion. That was the biggest decline in the country because we are such a large player in the agricultural field. And the reason for change? Falling crop prices.
Saskatchewan farms generate about two-thirds of all their income from crops which prompted the fall in revenues. Livestock prices, on the other hand, were up last year which offered something of a buffer but animal production is not as large as cropping so it wasn’t a complete offset.
Expenses, according to this report, were almost unchanged so it is completely a story about top line revenues. Program payments such as crop insurance were also lower reflecting better growing conditions than in 2023. Nonetheless, Saskatchewan farmers still accounted for almost half of the total bottom line in the country.
