Balance Sheet of the Agricultural Sector at December 31

Detailed information for 2016

Status:

Active

Frequency:

Annual

Record number:

5029

The balance sheet of the agricultural sector provides the value of farm assets used to produce agricultural products, the liabilities associated with these assets and the farm sector equity.

Data release - June 21, 2017; January 18, 2018 (revised data)

Description

The balance sheet of the agricultural sector provides the value of farm assets used to produce agricultural products, the liabilities associated with these assets and the farm sector equity, as of December 31. Financial ratios, based on the balance sheet and the Agriculture Value Added Account (record number 5030), are also displayed.

The balance sheet of the agricultural sector includes all assets and debt involved in agricultural production, regardless of ownership. It is not a consolidation of the balance sheets of individual farm operators and corporations involved in the production of agricultural products. Farm real estate assets leased from non-operator landlords are included, as well as automobiles, trucks and farm machinery leased to farmers. The personal portion of farm households' assets and liabilities is excluded, as they are not used in agricultural production.

Unlike other individual or corporate balance sheets, assets are listed at the current market value instead of the book value. Therefore, they cannot be compared with those of accounts using book values.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and other federal and provincial departments use the data to develop, administer and evaluate agricultural policies and programs. Government, universities and the private sector also use the data for industry performance measurement and market development.

Reference period: December 31

Collection period: During the three-week period prior to release

Subjects

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

Data sources and methodology

Target population

All Canadian agricultural 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.

The balance sheet of the agricultural sector integrates data from many sources, most of them produced by the Agriculture Division of Statistics Canada.

The value of cash, bonds and savings, accounts receivable, input inventory and quota is obtained from the Farm Credit Corporation survey for the years 1980 and 1983 and The Farm Financial Survey (FFS) (record number 3450) since 1987.

Livestock and poultry inventory estimates are benchmarked every five years to the Census of Agriculture (record number 3438). Between censuses, livestock inventories are estimated by the Agriculture Division's Livestock Section. Values per head are estimated by the Agriculture Division's Farm Income and Prices Section in consultation with provincial statisticians and administrative data on market prices.

The year-end value of crops inventory is estimated by the Agriculture Division's Farm Income and Prices Section in consultation with provincial statisticians and administrative data on market prices.

The value of machinery and equipment is benchmarked to the Census of Agriculture. Data obtained through the Farm Input Price Index (FIPI) (record number 2305), the Canadian Farm and Industrial Equipment Institute and the Farm Financial Survey (FFS) are used to calculate the values between census benchmarks.

The value of land and buildings is benchmarked to the Census of Agriculture. Farm Credit Canada surveys farmland values every six months. These are used to calculate land and building values between censuses.

Total liabilities are estimated using data from the derived survey Farm Debt Outstanding (record number 3472).

Error detection

Macro editing is used. Editing is done at the provincial level. The method most often used is comparison with the previous year to detect substantial differences.

Imputation

This methodology does not apply.

Estimation

The value of cash, bonds and savings, accounts receivable, input inventory and quota is estimated for the years that the Farm Credit Corporation survey and The Farm Financial Survey (FFS) (record number 3450) are not available, using interpolation or a forecasting model. Adjustments are made to cash, bonds and savings to exclude the personal share of farm operators.

Poultry and market livestock and breeding livestock inventories are estimated for each province, based on farm inventories and average farm values per head for cattle, hogs, sheep (Livestock Survey, record number 3460), hens and chickens (Eggs Producers Survey, record number 3421, which became part of the Production of Poultry and Eggs Survey, record number 5039, in 2002), turkeys, mink and fox (Fur Farm Report - Mink and Foxes, record number 3426). Estimates of livestock numbers on farms are as of January 1. Values per head are estimated by the Agriculture Division's Farm Income and Prices Section in consultation with provincial statisticians.

Crop inventories are calculated by adding the values of producer-held inventories of wheat (excluding durum), durum wheat, oats, barley, rye, corn, flaxseed, canola, soybeans, tobacco, and potatoes held on farms, at December 31. Year-end values are estimated by multiplying averages of December and January prices by year-end stocks estimates.

The value of machinery and equipment, which includes autos, trucks and other machinery, owned and leased by farm operators, is derived using the Value of Farm Capital at July 1 (record number 3471). Adjustments are made to estimate the value of machinery and equipment at December 31 and to exclude the personal share of farm operators' autos and trucks.

The value of farm real estates, which includes land, service buildings and homes, owned and leased by farm operators, is also derived using the Value of Farm Capital at July 1 (record number 3471). Adjustments are made to estimate farm real estate at December 31 and to exclude the personal share of farm operators' homes.

The farm business portion of household contents refers to office fixtures, equipment and supplies. It is derived by multiplying the farm business share of farm operators' homes by 60%.

Current liabilities are derived by multiplying estimates of total debt outstanding for each province by ratios of current debt to total debt derived from the Farm Credit Corporation Survey and Farm Financial Survey data.

Long-term liabilities are calculated for each province by subtracting current liabilities from total debt outstanding. Adjustments are then made to the resulting estimate to exclude the personal share of long-term liabilities associated with the farm operators' homes.

For additional information on estimation methods, refer to the Data quality, concepts and methodology section of the archived Balance Sheet of the Agricultural Sector publication (21-016-X).

Quality evaluation

The quality of the balance sheet of the agricultural sector and its components 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 that goes into the calculation of the balance sheet come from the Value of Farm Capital (record number 3471) and Farm Debt Outstanding (record number 3472), which are derived from various surveys and administrative sources. Much of the data is already audited by the source organizations. Anomalies are thoroughly investigated prior to release.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which 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

Data are published twice each year, in February and June. At each release, data 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 (record number 3438). The results of the latest intercensal revision, based on the 2011 Census of Agriculture apply to the period 2005 to 2012.

Data accuracy

No direct measures of the margin of error in the estimates can be calculated. The quality of the estimates can be inferred from analysis of revisions and from a subjective assessment of the data sources and methodology used in the preparation of the estimates.

The balance sheet of the agriculture sector is derived mainly from the derived surveys Value of Farm Capital (record number 3471) and Farm Debt Outstanding (record number 3472), compiled from various surveys and administrative data. The quality of these surveys and administrative data are considered to be good.

It is important to note that these data are subject to error. Administrative data may contain non-sampling error such as keying mistakes, while survey data may carry other non-sampling and sampling errors.

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