Agriculture in Canada
is one of the largest agricultural producers and exporters in the world. As with other developed nations, the proportion of the population agriculture employed and agricultural GDP as a percentage of the national GDP fell dramatically over the 20th century, but it remains an important element of the Canadian economy. A wide range of agriculture is practiced in Canada from Newfoundland on the Atlantic to British Columbia on the Pacific. In the federal government, overview of Canadian agriculture is the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
Major agricultural products
Various factors affect the socio-economic characteristics of Canadian agriculture. The 2006 Census of Agriculture listed seven: Quantity and type of farms; Biogeography: crop and land use areas; land management practices; Quantity of livestock and poultry; Agricultural engineering: Farm machinery and equipment; Farm capital; Farm operating expenses and receipts; Farm-related injuries.Early in the 21st century, Canadian agronomists were aware of 58 "primary grain, vegetable and fruit crops", based on surface area and value. In 2007, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture broke down into five primary "production sectors" Canadian agriculture according to cash receipts:
- grains and oilseeds: 34%
- red meats: 24%
- dairy: 12%
- horticulture: 9%
- poultry and eggs: 8%
Grains and oilseeds
In 1925, Saskatchewan produced over half of the wheat in the Dominion of Canada, threshing more than 240,000,000 bushels of wheat. Rapeseed, alfalfa, barley, canola, flax, rye, and oats are other popularly grown grain crops.Wheat is a staple crop from Canada. To help homesteaders attain an abundance harvest in a foreshortened growing season, varieties of wheat were developed at the beginning of the 20th century. Red Fife was the first strain; it was a wheat which could be seeded in the fall and sprout in the early spring. Red Fife ripened nearly two weeks sooner and was a harder wheat than other spring wheats. Dr. C. Saunders, experimented further with Red Fife, and developed Marquis Wheat, which was resistant to rust and came to maturity within 100 days. Some other types of wheat grown are durum, spelt, and winter wheat. In recent years, Canadian farmers have also begun to grow rice.
The Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration was established in 1935 to provide Federal financial assistance in regard to the global economical crisis. The PFRA provides farmers with land and water resources such as irrigation, soil drifting conservation and small farm water development. The Farm credit program has established the Canadian Farm Loan Act to provide stock bonds and farm improvement loans.
Livestock
115,000 cattle roamed the southern prairies by 1900.Livestock can include the raising of cows, also commonly called cattle. Recently domestication of the buffalo and elk has initiated a new food industry. Sheep have been raised for both wool and meat. Bovine or pig barns have been a part of livestock culture. Scientists have been making forward steps in swine research giving rise to intensive pig farming. The domestication of various farm animals meant that corresponding industries such as feedlots, animal husbandry and meat processing have also been studied, and developed. Two corporations control 80 percent of beef processing, and four retailers capture 72 percent of retail sales.
| Type | 2023 |
| Cattle | 3,378,100 |
| Calves | 205,900 |
| Pigs | 21,925,600 |
| Sheep and lambs | 778,200 |
| Chickens | 803,086,000 |
| Turkeys | 20,515,000 |
From 1921 to 2011, farming operations have become more intensive and specialized. The total number of animal farms in Canada went from 8.1 per 100 inhabitants to 0.6 per 100 inhabitants. During this period, the number of Canadian pigs rose from 3,324,291 to 12,679,104, while the number of pig farms dropped from 452,935 to 7,371. In 2011, the hog industry was the fourth largest in Canada, after canola, dairy products and cattle, with cash receipts of $3.9 billion. The size of farms had also increased substantially, with the national average rising to 1,720 hogs per operation in 2011.
| Type | Unit of Measure | 1951 | 2016 |
| Cattle and calves | Number of cattle farms | 452,480 | 75,307 |
| Cattle and calves | Number of animals | 8,370,991 | 12,530,730 |
| Cattle and calves | Average number of animals per farm | 17 | 166 |
| Pigs | Number of pig farms | 364,068 | 8,402 |
| Pigs | Number of animals | 4,915,987 | 14,091,503 |
| Pigs | Average number of animals per farm | 14 | 1,677 |
| Horses | Number of horse farms | 451,647 | 39,164 |
| Horses | Number of animals | 1,306,634 | 291,561 |
| Horses | Average number of animals per farm | 3 | 7 |
| Sheep and lambs | Number of sheep farms | 62,566 | 9,390 |
| Sheep and lambs | Number of animals | 1,478,737 | 1,054,260 |
| Sheep and lambs | Average number of animals per farm | 24 | 112 |
| Chickens | Number of chicken farms | 427,317 | 23,910 |
| Chickens | Number of animals | 64,615,025 | 145,519,566 |
| Chickens | Average number of animals per farm | 151 | 6,086 |
Dairy farming
Like poultry, dairy farming in Canada is restricted under the system of supply management. In 2016 there were approximately 17,840 dairy cattle and milk production farm operators in Canada.Horticulture
Horticulture crops, which includes nursery, flowers and fruits, became easier to grow with the development of plant hardiness zones.Apples, pears, plums and prunes, peaches, apricots, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, loganberries and fruit orchards are numerous and reach commercial size in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Niagara Peninsula and Norfolk County of Ontario and Okanagan Valley of British Columbia.
Hazelnuts are harvested in Eastern Canada and British Columbia. Maple syrup and maple sugar, maple butter, and maple taffy are products of Quebec along the St. Lawrence River. The main market for Canadian maple syrup and sugar is the United States. Potatoes are an abundant harvest of the Maritime provinces. Sugar beets and beet root sugar are harvested in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta.
Viticulture
refers to the growing of grapes for the production of wine. Ontario, and British Columbia are the two largest wine-growing regions in Canada, although grapes are also grown in other regions of Canada, including Quebec, and the Maritimes. In 2015, Canada produced 56.2 million litres of wine. Approximately 62 per cent of all wines produced that year originated from Ontario, while wineries from British Columbia constituted 33 per cent of that years wine production. Canada is the largest producer of ice wine, producing more ice wine than all other countries combined.In 2015, there were 548 wineries spread across. More than half of Canada's vineyard acreage is situated in Ontario, with 150 vineyards spread across. British Columbia holds 240 wineries, spread throughout. There are 138 wineries in Quebec, which manage of vineyards in the province. Nova Scotia holds 20 wineries, which manages of vineyards in the province.
Poultry and eggs
, poultry, eggs, chickens, geese, ducks and turkeys are part of a system of supply management. Under supply management, production is limited, prices are raised, and competition is severely curtailed, raising profits for farmers through artificially high prices for poultry and eggs paid by consumers. There are around 3,000 poultry farmers and 1,000 egg farmers in Canada.| Unit of Measure | 1920 | 2024 |
| Number of laying chickens | 14,229,000 | 37,074,000 |
| Total eggs laid | 112,148,000 | 915,020,000 |
| Eggs laid per chicken | 96 | 296 |
| Type | Unit of Measure | 1976 | 2021 |
| Chickens | Number of chicken farms | 99,128 | 23,547 |
| Chickens | Number of animals | 87,071,513 | 152,299,258 |
| Chickens | Average number of animals per farm | 878 | 6,468 |
| Turkeys | Number of turkey farms | 13,810 | 2,225 |
| Turkeys | Number of animals | 8,828,549 | 6,084,098 |
| Turkeys | Average number of animals per farm | 639 | 2,734 |