OTTAWA Canadian farmers are experiencing a record high when it comes to net income, and farmers across the country saw the numbers almost double from 2012 to 2013, says a new report from Statistics Canada. The total net income across Canada in 2013 was $12.01 billion, up from $6.34 billion in 2012. The previous high was $7 billion in 2008. The biggest reason for the massive increase was the Prairies. Alberta saw an increase of 264 per cent over 2012, while Saskatchewan was up 148 per cent and Manitoba 52 per cent. Combined, those three provinces had a net farm income of $8.33 billion. Ontario saw a modest increase in net farm income of just 18.6 per cent, going from $1.18 billion in 2012 to $1.4 billion in 2013. StatCan also released its farm cash receipts for the first nine months of this year. In Ontario, cash receipts were up 1.3 per cent, going from $8.64 million from January to September 2013 to $8.76 million in 2014. |