OTTAWA — Equity in Ontario’s farm sector rose to a record $136.7 billion in 2016, up from $132 billion in 2015, Statistics Canada reports.
That $4-billion increase is the lowest growth since 2008-09. Ontario equity rose an average $10.4 billion from 2009 to 2015. The last time equity decreased was from 1991 to 1992.
Ontario’s total assets for 2016 were a record $160.6 billion, up $5.8 billion from 2015. The majority of this increase came from farm real estate assets, which rose $5.4 billion, the lowest since 2009.
However, 2016 Ontario livestock and poultry inventories were down 17.6 per cent from 2015, going from $1.7 billion to $1.5 billion. StatCan said much of the decline in these inventories can be traced to lower cattle and calf prices.
