The 2008 Farm Financial Survey was conducted by Statistics Canada and was funded by Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. The results are based on a sample of 14,000 farms with gross revenue of over $10,000 from all provinces and farm types. The survey was first done in 1981 and is now done annually.

This bulletin is the first in a series of bulletins addressing financial performance of farms. Two measures of financial performance are highlighted: the current return on assets and the return on equity based on the annual return from day-to-day business of farming for various farm types. Both...