Canada’s Farmers Earn Record C$102.2 Billion as Canola Tops Crop Sales

Canadian farmers received a record C$102.2 billion from crop sales, livestock sales and direct government payments in 2025, a rise of 4.7% from the previous year, according to an October 7 analysis from Statistics Canada. The result describes cash flowing to farms, not their net profits: expenses for land, machinery, fuel, feed and financing still have to be paid.

The figures reveal how much Canadian agriculture has changed. Crops now generate a larger share of farm receipts than livestock, and canola, rather than wheat, is the country's biggest cash crop by sales value. The shift matters to grain handlers, seed suppliers, processors and countries purchasing Canadian crops.

Canola leads the crop economy

Crops accounted for 51.0% of Canada's total 2025 farm cash receipts. Within crop sales, canola brought in C$12.1 billion, representing 23.2% of the crop total. Wheat, excluding the separate durum category, followed at C$8.5 billion, or 16.4% of crop receipts.

Durum wheat generated C$1.9 billion, while lentils generated C$1.2 billion. Both show how much more diverse Canadian field-crop production has become since the early 1970s, when these crops made up such a small share that the statistics grouped them with miscellaneous crops.

The canola numbers are especially relevant beyond Canada because the crop feeds international supply chains for vegetable oil, animal feed and renewable fuels. The government release measures the value of sales, however; it does not separately establish whether any change in receipts came from higher prices, larger volumes or both.

Livestock still contributes more than two-fifths

Livestock and livestock products represented 44.3% of farm cash receipts in 2025. Cattle accounted for 40.5% of livestock receipts, unprocessed milk for 20.2%, hogs for 15.9% and chickens raised for meat for 9.0%.

Direct government payments contributed the remaining 4.7% of total receipts. Within those payments, crop insurance represented 53.1% and the AgriStability programme another 18.9%. These programmes help offset certain production and financial risks, but the payments are not the same as commercial sales.

What has changed since 1971

Statistics Canada compared the latest figures with a period when livestock products were Canada's main source of farm receipts. In 1971, livestock accounted for 57.1% and crops for 40.1%. By the mid-2000s, crops had overtaken livestock and they have remained in the lead.

The crop mix has changed just as strongly. Statistics Canada says canola receipts are nearly 90 times their 1971 level in nominal dollars. Its comparison spans more than five decades of inflation and structural change, so the percentage should not be mistaken for a real-terms measure of farm profitability.

Another striking example is cannabis, which brought in C$3.0 billion in 2025 and ranked as Canada's fifth-largest cash crop. The report shows just how much the definition of a commercially important crop has evolved.

Why international buyers should watch

The importance of the report is the balance between crops, livestock and public support. It gives importers, food processors, equipment makers and lenders a clearer picture of where agricultural sales revenue is concentrated. Stronger receipts can support investment but do not automatically mean farmers are better off after their costs.

For international readers, the key takeaway is straightforward: Canada remains a major supplier of agricultural commodities, with canola and wheat occupying different but substantial places in the farm economy. The next step in understanding the sector's financial health is to compare these receipts with production costs and farm income, not receipts alone.

Primary source and image rights

Primary source: Statistics Canada, October 7, 2026, https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/9343-slicing-pie-50-plus-year-look-farm-cash-receipts

Editorial photograph: Ruvim Kerimov, Saskatchewan canola fields, https://unsplash.com/photos/GuCNRdpemxc . Reused under the Unsplash License. Contextual photo; not evidence of the farm receipt figures.