Mixed Picture for Farm Family Income in 2020

Jan 27, 2023

The total income of Canadian farm families increased in 2020, with grain and oilseed operations seeing a particularly healthy gain while cattle outfits experienced a decline.

A Statistics Canad report Friday showed the average total income of farm families operating a single farm in Canada was $179,724 in 2020, up 10.2% from 2019.

However, some farm types fared much better than others, with total income on grain and oilseed farms up 18.9% at $217,343. On the other hand, beef cattle ranching and farming (including feedlot) operations saw their average total income slide about 2.6% to $120,457. At $189,269, total income on hog farms was up 1.8% from 2019.

The increased income for grain and oilseed farms was largely attributable to strong export demand from China, after a reduction of tariffs, and favourable weather conditions in Western Canada in 2020, StatsCan said.

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Video: Understanding the Basics of the Renewable Fuel Standard

On Friday, April 24, 2026, from 12 noon–1:00 ET, the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, alongside the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s (PDA) Agricultural Business Development Center (ABDC), presented this webinar in the Understanding Agricultural Law Educational Series, a course designed to develop subject matter literacy and competence on fundamental issues of agricultural law for attorneys and business advisors who work with or represent agricultural or rural clients but may not necessarily specialize in agricultural law:

“Understanding the Basics of the Renewable Fuel Standard”

The Clean Air Act’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program requires transportation fuel sold in the United States to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, or advanced biofuels. Established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and later expanded by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the RFS is implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in collaboration with the Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

This webinar provides an overview of the legal authority and structure for the RFS program and explain how it works, including the program’s system of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) and categories of renewable fuels. Additionally, this webinar addresses EPA annual volume requirement rulemaking and associated recent legal issues.