The agri-food chain today is significantly different from that of twenty years ago. Changing consumer demands, knowledge intensive technology, North American integration and globalization have all contributed to the evolution of the different segments of the chain, which include input suppliers,...

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...