Paul Martin commentary
Any farmer will tell you: crop prices are under pressure and operating costs are going up. But we now have some numbers showing the impact those forces had on producers’ income statements.
StatsCanada has just updated its net income figures for last year and there is no doubt that farm cash flows were squeezed for those in crop production across the country. Here in Saskatchewan we set records for production of certain crops which improved the scoreboard a bit.
Total receipts exceeded $21 billion last year, down slightly from 2024 while expenses were $500 million higher. That $21 billion figure put us third among the provinces in terms of gross revenue but, after expenses, we out-performed everyone in the country. Now, that’s the accounting part of the story.
A good chunk of last year’s contribution to net income is still in the bin as inventory levels rose sharply because of the large crop volume. Even so, farm net income in Saskatchewan surpassed five billion dollars last year.
BC farmers by comparison lost $150 million last year.
