First Half Farm Cash Receipts Up, but Drought Bites

Canadian farm cash receipts remained strong through the first half of this year, although the impact of last summer’s drought made itself felt in lower returns for some crops. 

A Statistics Canada farm income report Wednesday pegged total farm cash receipts – for the January-June period at $43.9 billion, up $5.6 billion or 14.6% from the same period a year earlier, as crop and livestock returns, as well as government program payments, all increased. 

At $23.4 billion, first half crop receipts were $824.6 million or 3.6% higher than the previous year. However, the drought meant some Prairie farmers had significantly less grain in the bin, pushing returns for some crops lower, despite generally strong prices. 

For example, first half receipts for canola were down 7.6% to $5.43 billion and durum receipts tumbled 41.4% to $587.8 million. On the other hand, wheat (excluding durum), receipts remained relatively stable as lower marketings (-38.4%) were offset by higher prices (+63.8%).  

Meanwhile, receipts for soybeans and corn, which are mostly grown in eastern Canada and were therefore less affected by last season’s drought, were up by nearly 48% and 31.4%, respectively, to $1.29 and $1.65 million.