All told, Canadian agriculture is big business: $34.2 billion in annual sales from crops and livestock production.
But the reality is that we’re mostly independent operators, each of us running a small business. It’s tough to describe, because no two farms are the same. As farmers, we ride out the same underlying econimic and societal trends as other Canadian enterprises, or ignore them at our peril.
When the only constant is change, we must be nimble, creative and adaptable – whther it’s what we produce, how we produce it, or how id gets to market.
Before we delve into specific questions about food production, let’s look at key trends in the Canadian farm setting. We hope this provides some context for understanding some of the changes you’re seeing in agriculture.