Biannual Potato Area and Yield Survey (PAYS)
Detailed information for 2025
Status:
Active
Frequency:
Annual
Record number:
3446
The purpose of this survey is to obtain information to produce national and provincial level estimates of potato production.
Description
The June occasion of this survey collects data on potato area planted in the current crop year. The October occasion of this survey collects data on potato area planted and harvested as well as production and yield information in the current year. Data produced from this survey are used by agricultural producers and industry analysts to make production and marketing decisions, and by government analysts to monitor the potato industry and to develop agricultural policies in Canada. The data are used in the calculation of farm income estimates and flow into the Canadian System of National Accounts. Further, the data are used in the calculation of farm income projections produced by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, in co-operation with Statistics Canada and the provinces.
Reference period: June planting and October harvest
Collection period: June/July and October/November
Subjects
- Agriculture and food (formerly Agriculture)
- Crops and horticulture
Data sources and methodology
Target population
The universe includes all potato producers in Canada although data are collected directly only in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia; other provinces report through administrative sources. Potato producers on Indian Reserves and Institutional farms are excluded from this survey.
Instrument design
The development of the questions for the survey was based on other surveys including the Census of Agriculture. The Census of Agriculture questionnaire was tested using focus groups and pilot surveys.
Sampling
This is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design.
The sampling unit is the establishment.
Farms are stratified based on province and potato acreage. In each province, a threshold for the potato acreage was defined using the sigma-gap method, based on the importance of that commodity to the provincial totals. All operations with acreage above the provincial threshold were automatically selected in the sample due to their significance. For the remaining units, the cumulative square root-f method was used to divide the strata into either 2 or 3 groups (depending on the province) based on acreage.
The population consists of all potato farms in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. The frame includes all potato producers, excluding Indian reserves and institutional farms, who reported more than 1 acre of potatoes on the Census of Agriculture. The frame is supplemented by known new operations annually. Stratification and allocation are by size of operation.
The sample is selected using a stratified simple random sampling method. Approximately 250 operations are included in the sample.
Data sources
Responding to this survey is mandatory.
Data are collected directly from survey respondents and extracted from administrative files.
Data are collected annually using an e-mail invitation to open, complete and submit an electronic questionnaire. If the questionnaire is not completed on-line by the deadline date, the respondent will be contacted for a scheduled telephone interview.
Administrative data is provided by:
- Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA)
- Institut de la statistique du Québec
- Potato Growers of Alberta
Administrative data from Ontario, Quebec and Alberta are considered public and published as is.
The Potato Area and Yield Survey will require integration of administrative macro level data for the following domain estimates: Quebec, Ontario and Alberta.
Agriculture Division will remain responsible for obtaining macro level data from provincial contacts. Macro level data will not be integrated via central collection services but will be captured or batch loaded by the survey team in the macro data interface of the IBSP Review and Adjustment Facility (RAF).
View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .
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