Facts and figures from 2016 agriculture census released Wednesday

Statistics Canada says fewer and slightly older Canadian producers are planting more cropland on larger farms while canola is still the country’s most-planted commodity. Here are some highlights from the 2016 Census of Agriculture released Wednesday:

— There are 193,492 farms in Canada, down 5.9 per cent from 2011.

— Crops make up 37.8 million hectares, up 6.9 per cent.

— Total farm area sits at 64.2 million hectares, down 0.9 per cent.

— The average age of the Canadian farmer is 55, up from 54 in 2011.

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— Gross farm receipts totalled $69.4 billion in 2015, while operating expenses reached $57.5 billion.

— Oilseed and grain-type farms continue to be the most common, increasing from 30 per cent in 2011 to 32 per cent in 2016

— The size of the beef cattle herd decreased 2.4 per cent, while the number of operations reporting beef cattle declined 12.3 per cent. Prairie provinces accounted for just over 80 per cent of beef cattle.

— Fruits, berries, and nuts acreage rose 6.7 per cent from 2011, mainly due to blueberries and cranberries.

— Apple orchard area continued to decline, with the largest decreases in Nova Scotia and Quebec. Overall, total land dedicated to apple production fell 3.2 per cent from 2016.

— Ontario saw a 29.8 per cent increase in the area dedicated to greenhouse vegetables.

— Lentils are now the third-largest crop in Saskatchewan behind canola and spring wheat.

— Soybean area in Manitoba more than doubled between 2011 and 2016 to 665,868 hectares.

— In Central Canada, corn and soybeans remained the largest field crops.

— Fodder crops and potatoes were the largest crop areas in Atlantic Canada.

The Canadian Press

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