The latest farm cash receipt totals from Statistics Canada demonstrate that canola is the most valuable crop to Canadian farmers, says Robert Hunter, Canola Council of Canada (CCC) vice-president of Communications.
Farm cash receipts for canola in 2009 totalled $5.037 billion, higher than all other crops, including wheat, durum, soybeans and corn, Last year farm cash receipts for canola were $4.9 billion.
“That’s an extraordinary accomplishment,” says Hunter. “Clearly farmers continue to choose to grow canola because it is profitable.”
The story is particularly important in Saskatchewan, Canada’s largest producer of canola. Farm cash receipts for canola topped out at $2.2 billion, making it the single most important agricultural product in the province in terms of cash receipts.
“These statistics show that canola is important to Canada and especially to farmers,” says Terry Youswa, a Saskatchewan canola grower.. “Farmers continue to respond to the signals they receive and canola is their shining light.”
“The bottom line is that canola is a resilient, profitable crop for farmers,” says Hunter. “The canola industry can only reach our 2015 target of 15 million tonnes of sustainable canola production if canola continues to be a profitable crop for Canadian farmers.”
