Canadian farmers are slightly older, but a greater percentage of them are women now than in 2011.
That's according to the 2016 Census of Agriculture from Statistics Canada.
The report says the average age of farm operators in the country edged up from 54 years in 2011 to 55 years in 2016. It also points out that increase is in line with the aging of the general population.
Women have increased their role in agriculture, as well. Women now make up 28.7% of all farm operators in Canada -- up from 27.4% in 2011. Most of the women in that group (30.7%) are 35 to 54 years old.
The latest numbers from Stats Canada also show that more area is being used for crop production than it was in the past.
The report says the total area that is used for cropland is increasing because more farmers are planting crops on land that was formerly used for pasture or summerfallow. Oilseed and grain-type farms -- especially canola farms -- are still the most common (32.9%) with beef-type farms coming in at a distant second (18.6%).
(Photo courtesy of Statistics Canada)
There are also fewer farms in Canada than there were five years ago, but those farms are, on average, getting bigger.
There were just under 194,000 farms in the country in 2016 -- that's down about 6% from the 2011 census. At the same time, the average area per farm increased from 779 acres in 2011 to 820 acres in 2016.
Farmland and farm operations are more valuable now than they were in 2011.
The value of land and buildings that were used by agricultural operations grew by 37.5% from $311.2-billion in 2011 to $427.9-billion in 2016. Ontario farms top the list as the most valuable at an average of $9,580/acre while Saskatchewan is the lowest at $1,210/acre.
And more farmers are working a second job.
The latest census data also shows that 44.4% of all Canadian farm operators did some sort of off-farm work, usually to supplement their income. Almost one-third of all farm operators worked an average of 30 hours a week or more off the farm.
Most of the farmers who are working another job are in British Columbia where more than half (51.1%) of farm operators reported earning money from a job that is not related to their farm.
