Farm Producers, Past and Present

The pace of technological advance in agriculture appears to have quickened since 1966 producing a dichotomy in the way agricultural products are produced. The production of agricultural commodities is being concentrated. Large farms are becoming larger and producing an increasing proportion of agricultural products. At the same time small and part-time farms are growing as a proportion of all farms, though their contribution to the economy in proportional terms is becoming smaller despite their large numbers.
Agricultural production is being concentrated among fewer, larger, more specialized operations, dependent upon purchased inputs, borrowed capital and more integrated with the food processing and distribution sectors. The benefits from such changes have been a highly productive food system, abundant supplies of quality, inexpensive food products and higher incomes for both those who farm and those who leave for non-farm employment opportunities.
Change, however, has come at a cost to the traditional structure of Canadian agriculture. For instance, a consequence has been an increase in the proportion of food being produced by farms organized as family corporations, integrated industrial corporations, family trusts and large proprietorships. Change has also meant declining opportunities and higher barriers to entry so that fewer people have the means to become established in agriculture. Greater mechanization and capitalization have meant fewer jobs in agriculture, and this in turn has meant a smaller rural population and the demise of some rural communities.
As farms become larger it becomes more difficult for subsequent generations to purchase them as the capital invested and credit requirements exceed amounts that can be paid for in one generation. The growth in organizational structures such as corporations or trusts which leave the farm business intact, beyond the life of the proprietor, seems in-evi table.