Census number of Farms

[grassfarmer]

I'm assuming that's a huge ranch?
.....and I think you know what I mean.

Just a half million plus acres now!

[farmaholic]

Just a half million plus acres now!

.....a "little" piece of paradise!

Probably stocking more cervids than bovids.

[Blaithin]

.....a "little" piece of paradise!

Probably stocking more cervids than bovids.

Nope. AFAIK they’re pretty much all Cattle and then forage and crop for the Cattle. 20,000 head and then a bunch of horses.

Hard to meet a true cowboy that hasn’t worked some stint at Douglas Lake. They’re almost straight out of Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy.

[farming101]

Edit: HEY! IF THE NUMBER OF BC FARMS HAS BEEN FAIRLY STATIC....HOW CAN FARM SIZE BE GROWING(marginally????)? WHERE ARE THEY GETTING THE EXTRA LAND FROM? I THOUGHT THEY WEREN'T MAKING ANY MORE?

The census has changed over the years and so the questions asked or the responses given can skew the results when trying to compare one census to another.
[URL="http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/ref/dict/pop012-eng.cfm"]http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/ref/dict/pop012-eng.cfm[/URL]

A glance at the chart doesn't show these changes.

How crown land leases and hobby farms are counted could change census results quite a bit, especially in BC. Just a guess

[tweety]

What did you think was going to happen with 80 foot airseeders and air tanks the size of a B train? Farms get smaller?

[farmaholic]

What did you think was going to happen with 80 foot airseeders and air tanks the size of a B train? Farms get smaller?

I would think the limits are being reached! Not every area even has the ability to use equipment that big. But technology(sectional control) might help in some circumstances. Topography and obstacles could be a problem.

[burnt]

The "potential" young farmers are basically shut out of the market here. But I guess you can still be a farmer whether you BUY or RENT.

Just think how much more profitable and efficient all those huge powerhouse farms are! Keep up or get the **** out of the way!

Same situation here in Ontario with land in our area pushing $20,000/acre. Supply management buyers, mega livestock producers and some larger cash croppers driving it.

This is 165-185 bu/ac corn ground, 50 bu soys.

You do the math. And interest rates projected to increase 1% this coming year.

Young farmers are being regulated out of entry, for example: some young guys are buying small lots (3-4 acres) severed from original land bases and raising livestock on a small scale. These little properties are the only thing affordable to them, coming on the market at around $300 - 400,000, usually with an older house and barn that will hold 30 - 40 calves or maybe 60 - 70 hogs. The manure goes onto surrounding land, usually the original piece from which the lot was severed.

(For some reason, cash croppers are always eager to take the shit from the livestock but not the work...)

Trouble is, the zoning on those lots is AG4 which restricts them to 1 animal unit/acre. IE -one cow/calf pair, 1 horse or 4 calves. So when they get over that number, the municipality can come in and shut them down, usually based on a neighbor's complaint, which IS happening.

Yet, the guy next door can have 50,000 turkeys or 10,000 hogs (actual cases) on 50 or 100 acres because he has technically met the regulatory requirements.

The regulations have made new entry into farming practically impossible.

But we have to keep the people safe, they said...