After declining for the first time in 14 years in 2024, Canadian farm cash receipts could be set to rebound this year – mainly due to richer cattle returns.
According to a Statistics Canada farm income report Wednesday, total national farm cash receipts through the first three quarters of 2025 (January-September) amounted to $73.7 billion, up $2.1 billion or almost 3% from the same period a year earlier.
A 2024 farm income report, also released today, pegged last year’s total farm cash receipts at $98.1 billion, down $1.4 billion on the year and first year-over-year fall since 2010. Farm cash receipts include crop and livestock returns, as well as government program payments.
Livestock receipts for the Jan-Sept period were reported by StatsCan at $32.86 billion, up $3.8 billion or almost 13% from a year earlier. On the other hand, crop receipts through the first three quarters of 2025 were pegged at $37.55 billion, down 2.6% on the year. Program payments were also lower, falling about $659 million from the first three quarters of 2024.
Jan-Sept cattle receipts climbed $2.3 billion from last year, while hog receipts were up $770.6 billion. Together, cattle and hog returns accounted for roughly 80% of the rise in livestock receipts.
Cattle receipts were up due to higher prices (+22.6%), despite lower marketings (-1.8%) from a decline in both the number of cattle slaughtered and international exports. The increase in hog receipts was attributed to a 13.7% rise in prices and a 2.4% increase in marketings as strong international demand for pork products contributed to increased slaughter numbers.
Supply-managed receipts grew 3.1% to $11.7 billion in the first three quarters, representing roughly one-third of total livestock receipts.
For crops, lower receipts for canola and key specialty crops drove the overall decline, while increased receipts for both durum wheat (+$275.1 million) and wheat (excluding durum) (+$116.1 million) moderated the decrease.
During the first three quarters of 2025, receipts for canola were down $845.4 million due to lower marketings, StatsCan said. Tariffs imposed by China and uncertain US biofuel regulations impacted the export demand for Canadian canola. Despite the market challenges, the price of canola edged up 0.5% compared with the first three quarters of the previous year, reducing the negative impact on receipts.
In 2025, tariffs on Canadian dry peas weighed on both marketings and prices compared with the same period in 2024. Receipts for dry peas fell $184.4 million (-25.2%) as international demand declined in the first three quarters of 2025.
National soybean receipts for the Jan-Sep period amounted to $1.65 billion, down 4.2% from a year earlier, while corn receipts ticked only fractionally higher to $1.95 billion.
Total direct payments dropped by $658.9 million (-16.7%) to $3.3 billion in the first three quarters. The decrease was led by Saskatchewan (-$259.6 million) and Alberta (-$192.8 million).
Crop insurance payments (-$540.6 million) accounted for over 80% of the decrease in the first three quarters, after improved growing conditions in the 2024 crop year.
Most provinces recorded higher farm cash receipts in the first three quarters, led by Alberta (+$1.1 billion) and Ontario (+$586.2 million), while Saskatchewan (-$433.3 million) decreased compared with the same period the previous year.
