Positive Outlook Seen for Coming Years
February 19, 2014 – Ottawa, ON – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is anticipating a strong year for Canadian farmers in 2014. Three new reports released today, the Farm Income Forecast for 2013 and 2014, the Medium Term Outlook and the Farm Income, Financial Conditions and Government Assistance Data Book, 2013, suggest an overall positive situation for the agriculture sector in 2013 and 2014. These reports provide financial and market forecasts for the sector and offer benchmarks for producers, industry stakeholders and governments as they plan for the years ahead.
With farmers’ net incomes remaining near historical peaks, robust crop prices, favourable livestock markets and an excellent Prairie harvest, indications suggest an overall positive situation for the agriculture sector in 2013 and 2014.
Jeff English
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Gerry Ritz
613-773-1059
Media Relations
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
613-773-7972
1-866-345-7972
Follow us on Twitter: @AAFC_Canada
The Farm Income Forecast (FIF) is prepared in consultation with the provincial governments and Statistics Canada. Reflecting information available up until mid-December 2013, it is Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) measure of the financial strength of the agriculture sector and its contribution to Canada’s economy. This forecast represents a federal-provincial consensus on the outlook for farm receipts, expenses, and net incomes for the previous (2013) and current (2014) calendar years.
The Medium Term Outlook (MTO) is a set of projections based on current policies, recent market conditions, and longer-term macroeconomic assumptions. Consequently it presents a “plausible future” for the international and domestic agri-food sectors in the decade ahead. It draws on recent economic projections from a number of sources including the Conference Board of Canada, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the United States Department of Agriculture. Together with the FIF, the MTO gives governments and stakeholders a forward-looking benchmark against which alternative future scenarios can be compared.
Also released at the same time as the FIF and MTO is the report on Farm Income, Financial Conditions and Government Assistance (referred to as the Data Book), which does not provide forecasts. Rather, it provides a historical summary of economic and financial indicators from recent years, including government spending and assistance to the farm sector, all in an easily accessible format. The Data Book has been published by AAFC since 1988. The data are collected from different sources, including AAFC, Statistics Canada, Farm Credit Canada, the Bank of Canada, the Conference Board of Canada, the OECD, and provincial governments.
