OTTAWA — Despite a record for total cash receipts in 2018, Ontario farmers faced increasing operating expenses and saw their lowest total net income or profit in nine years, according to Statistics Canada.
A StatCan report released in May said Ontario farmers had total cash receipts of $13.9 billion in 2018, up from a then-record $13.4 billion in 2017.
However, operating expenses after rebates were also at a record high at $11.9 billion because of an increase in feed costs, higher machinery costs, higher interest rates and a higher minimum wage.
Ontario’s realized net income — the difference between a farmer’s cash receipts and operating expenses, minus depreciation, plus income in kind — was just under $272 million, the lowest since 2009. In 2017, the realized net income was $753 million, while the 2013-2017 five-year average was $1.12 billion.
Total net farm income — realized net income adjusted for changes in the farmer-owned inventories of crops and livestock —for Ontario was $179 million, down from $1.12 billion in 2017, and was also the lowest since 2009.
