Farm Cash Receipts (FCR)

Detailed information for second quarter 2019

Status:

Active

Frequency:

Quarterly

Record number:

3437

Farm cash receipts represent the cash income received from the sale of agricultural commodities as well as direct program payments made to support or subsidize the agriculture sector.

Data release - November 26, 2019

Description

Farm cash receipts represent the cash income received from the sale of agricultural commodities as well as direct program payments made to support or subsidize the agriculture sector. The primary reason for compiling farm cash receipts is to estimate, on a provincial basis, the agriculture sector's contribution to gross domestic product. Consequently, all inter-farm sales within a province are excluded from farm cash receipts estimates, as their inclusion would result in double counting. It should be noted, however, that farm-to-farm sales between provinces are included as are all sales outside the sector.

Reference period: Quarter

Subjects

  • Agriculture and food (formerly Agriculture)
  • Farm financial statistics

Data sources and methodology

Target population

All Canadian agriculture operations as defined by the Census of Agriculture.

Instrument design

This methodology does not apply.

Sampling

This methodology does not apply.

Data sources

Data are extracted from administrative files and derived from other Statistics Canada surveys and/or other sources.

Farm cash receipts are estimated using both administrative and survey sources of data. Where necessary, data are adjusted to ensure conceptual consistency with the receipts series.

Error detection

Macro editing is used. Editing is done at the provincial level. As a result of the residual method used to detect net income, a minor change in either farm cash receipts or farm operating expenses can have a significant impact on the net income level and yearly change.

Imputation

This methodology does not apply.

Estimation

Farm cash receipts include revenues from the sale of agricultural commodities, program payments from government agencies, and payments from private crop and livestock insurance programs. Receipts are recorded in the calendar year when the money is paid to farmers. Market receipts are farm cash receipts minus program payments. They include sales of field crops, fruits, vegetables, floriculture and nursery products, sod, cannabis, maple and forest products, livestock, milk, poultry, eggs, fur and honey. The information is collected from a wide variety of surveys and administrative sources that report the quantity and average farm price for each commodity marketed in a province. Program payments are tied to agricultural production and paid directly from government to farmers.

Calculations of commodity cash receipts involve the use of many data sources which can vary by province and by commodity. Most of the prices for the monthly marketings are collected from administrative sources such as marketing boards, regulatory agencies and market information. Some prices are also provided by monthly farm price surveys conducted by Statistics Canada. In all cases, the prices reflect those received by producers at the point when ownership first changes hands.

Since cash receipts are estimated on a cash basis, any amounts received after the sale of a product, whether in the form of a final or an adjustment payment, will be shown when the cash is received rather than when it was earned. Several items fall into this category, including payments by marketing boards, as well as liquidations of grain receipts. The information for these payments is obtained directly from the administrative bodies involved.

Direct program payments are tabulated quarterly. The agencies responsible for the disbursement of payments under the various programs provide the data on a monthly, quarterly and, in some cases, an annual basis. Only payments directly provided to producers are included in the series.

For additional information on estimation methods, refer to the Data quality, concepts and methodology section of the archived Farm Cash Receipts publication (21-011-X).

Quality evaluation

The quality of the farm cash receipts estimates is evaluated by checking the consistency of these data with other sources or previous occasions. An interpretative analysis is also conducted. Much of the data which goes into the calculation of farm cash receipts comes from administrative programs or data already produced by Statistics Canada. Much of it is already audited by the source organizations.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

Annual and quarterly farm cash receipts data are published twice each year, at the end of May and at the end of November. In May, receipts data published for the previous two calendar years are subject to revision. In November, receipts data published for the first quarter of the current year and for the previous two calendar years are subject to revision. Every five years a historical revision is done based on the results of the Census of Agriculture (survey ID 3438).

Data accuracy

Farm cash receipts are estimated using both administrative and survey sources of data. Where necessary, data are adjusted to ensure conceptual consistency with the receipts series. Much of the data obtained from administrative sources have been summarized from the financial transactions of individual producers. These summarized data are often subject to audit by independent professional accountants and/or are used to make payments to individual producers. As a result, the quality of these data is considered to be very good. The survey data used in the receipts series reflect typical Statistics Canada standards for quality assurance and, therefore, the quality of these data is considered to be good.

However, it is important to note that the receipts data are subject to error. Administrative data may contain non-sampling error such as keying mistakes, while survey data may suffer from both non-sampling and sampling error. Users should also note that the quality of individual estimates may not be consistent between commodities or between provinces because the data sources and their quality may vary. As well, the estimates of inter-farm sales between provinces are not strong, as there are few sources for these data.

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