Dynamics of farm entry and exit in Canada

Abstract

The dynamics of entry and exit are examined across different categories of farms depending on the timing of entry and/or exit through a detailed panel data set on Canadian agriculture. The decomposition highlights the differences in the groups of farms and provides information affecting entry and exit beyond what can be inferred from net exit numbers. While aggregate values show a gradual fall in farm numbers over time and suggest a sector in decline, the decomposition reveals that approximately one-third of farms in each census are new entrants but only half of these will be in operation by the time of the next census. The results of the analysis suggest that many of the factors that increase the probability of entry also increase the probability of exit; smaller operations, producing vegetable/horticulture goods, located in more densely populated regions, are more likely to enter the sector but also to leave farming. Multigeneration involvement and a possible succession plan also contribute to the longevity of the farm operation after it has been launched. The results also highlight the decline of the mid-size operations and the growing importance of large farms in the overall share of production.

Farm size distribution in the Canadian livestock sector

“…Shapiro et al (1987) observed the log-normal distribution of all farm sizes in Canada and noted that the number of small farms grew faster than large farms even as concentration in agriculture increased. Chen et al (2019) analyzed the Census of Agriculture data and showed the trend of increasing average farm size in all agricultural sectors from 1951 to 2016. They also showed the distribution of farms in Canada by acreage.…”

Farm Size and Technology Implementation: A Comparison between Canada and Ukraine

“…A well-developed agricultural sector allows a country to be not only less dependent on international prices for certain resources, but also to be much more resilient in case of disasters, wars, and cataclysms (Kurdyumov, 2021). Agriculture stays important for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 2 -eradicate hunger (Viana et al, 2022;Chen et al, 2022;). However, for some countries, agricultural development is still particularly important for the development of their economies because of the international specialisation of their economies in producing this type of product (Morkunas & Labukas, 2020;Jouan et al, 2020).…”

“…One of the characteristics of the modern Ukrainian economy is its instability. According to H. Chen et al (2022), the riskiness and instability of agriculture is one of the reasons for constant fluctuations within the whole economy: after all, the income of the state in case of its specialisation in agriculture is affected not only by the price of these resources in the foreign market, but also by the yields within the country. However, J.W.…”