Facts and Figures about Field Crop Farming in Canada

Major field crops grown in Canada include wheat, canola, barley, corn and soybeans. Other crops include rye, oats, white beans and mixed grains. Several specialty crops, which are limited to a very small area of land, are also grown in certain regions. Crops grown vary depending on the specific growing abilities of each region and on the farmers’ needs.

Some farmers grow crops specifically to sell them. These farmers are called “cash crop” farmers. Many livestock farmers grow crops as well. These crops can then be harvested and used to feed the animals on the farm. If production is higher than what the farm requires, excess crops will be marketed and sold.

Each crop requires a different set of nutrients from the soil, so farmers develop a crop rotation which allows them to maximize nutrient use from and return to the soil. Crop rotation also benefits the soil in a number of other ways. Changing the type of roots in the soil each year will benefit soil structure. Fertilizer use can also be reduced as crops will add nutrients back to the soil which crops in a subsequent year can use. Certain insects and diseases which target field crops can live in the soil over the winter. Since many insects and diseases target specific crops, rotating the crops allows for a natural method of protecting against pests, therefore reducing the amount of pesticide needed.

In the past, farmers would till (turn up) the soil with several different machines between crops. Tillage is done to incorporate crop stubble into the soil as a form of fertilizer and reduce the amount of weeds present.

Modern farmers are using more conservation tillage or no-tillage systems than their ancestors did. In conservation tillage, the soil is still tilled, but not as much as it would have been in the past. The crop stubble will not be incorporated into the soil as completely as it would be in a more intensive tillage system. Modern tillage equipment does the job of several different old pieces of equipment, limiting the number of passes a farmer has to make on the field. This reduces fuel consumption, emissions, and soil compaction.

No-tillage systems do not till the soil at all between crops. Stubble is not disturbed between harvesting one crop and planting the next. In no-till systems, crop rotation is necessary for assisting with pest control and improving soil structure.

Most crops, but not all, are planted during the spring and harvested during the fall. Wheat can be planted in either spring or fall, and is harvested during the summer. Hay fields are harvested multiple times each year, and grow hay for three to four years at a time. Spring planting is started during late April or early May in most years, once the threat of frost is minimized.

Once grain and oilseed crops are harvested, they are either stored on the farm in large grain bins or sent to a grain elevator or feed mill for storage or sale. Grain elevators buy crops from a large number of farmers to resell to large customers such as feed mills or processing plants.

Hay can be harvested wet or dry. Harvested wet, it is placed in silos to ferment and become haylage. Harvested dry, it is baled and stored in barns or sheds for future use. Hay is eaten by ruminants, such as cattle, sheep, goats and deer, but also by rabbits and horses.

• Field crops can be found in a wide variety of everyday household products, including car parts, cosmetics, dyes, clothing and more
• At the 2009 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, an entire house was built and furnished using products made from soybeans
• If you ate a sandwich for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it would take 168 days for one person to eat the bread produced by one bushel of wheat
• Corn is an ingredient in more than 3,000 grocery products
• Hay is essentially dried grass. The kind of grass grown depends on the farmer and what kind of animal the hay will be fed to.
• Pot barley has the bran and germ intact, making it a whole grain. Pearl barley has been steam processed to remove the bran
• Oatmeal goat’s milk soap can help soothe and moisturize extremely dry skin, and has even been used by eczema sufferers
• Canola was developed in the 1970s through traditional plant breeding methods in Canada from the parent plant, rapeseed. For more on this visit www.canolacouncil.org/ind_overview.aspx
• Durham wheat, used for pasta, is grown in western Canada. Other wheat varieties, used for flour, are grown across Canada

• The crop grown with the largest acreage in Canada is wheat, followed by canola
• Canola oil has specific health properties and a unique taste which make it popular around the world
• In Ontario corn is the most common field crop, while in the western provinces, wheat is the most common
• Canada’s malt barley is top quality, making Canada the second largest exporter of malt world-wide
• Grain and oilseeds can be found in products we use every day around the home and office
• Ontario has a region which grows tobacco
• Sugar beets are grown in specific areas of Ontario and Alberta. There is only one sugar beet processor in all of Canada, which is found in Alberta
• Farmers have been reducing the levels of chemical fertilizers and pesticides used on their farms continually over the past 30 years
• GPS technology is used on farms to track nutrient levels and yields in different parts of a field, helping farmers fertilize more accurately and reducing the risk of fertilizer runoff

Hectare (ha) – A hectare is 100 metres x 100 metres. It is equal to 2.5 acres. A hectare is about the size of two soccer fields.

Acre – an acre is slightly smaller than a soccer field.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) – a system of managing pests (weeds, insects, disease, fungus, nematodes, rodents) that involves more than one control method – mechanical (e.g. tillage) cultural (e.g. using certified seed), biological (e.g. use of a pest’s natural enemies), or chemical (e.g. pesticides) – in a program that is both economically and environmentally sound

Soil type – the texture of the soil – based on the percentage of sand, silt, and clay

Hybrid – plants produced by crossing two or more inbred lines of plants that are genetically quite different

Tillage – cultivating the soil to prepare for planting or to reduce weeds

Reduced, Conservation or No-till farming – reducing or eliminating tillage in order to minimize soil disturbance and maintain as much crop residue cover as possible. This leads to better protection of soil from wind or water erosion, less fuel consumption, and better carbon sequestration.

Crop Rotation – the practice of planting different crops on a field year after year to minimize pest population build up, improve soil health, avoid pesticide resistance issues, and diversify (e.g. a common rotation in Ontario is soybeans, wheat, and corn repeated every three years or with hay included for livestock farms)

Canada Grains Council
Visit www.canadagrainscouncil.ca/

Grain Growers of Canada
Visit www.ggc-pgc.ca

Canadian Wheat Board
Visit www.cwb.ca

Grain Farmers of Ontario
Visit www.gfo.ca

Ontario Beans:
Visit www.ontariobeans.on.ca

Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Association
Visit www.ontarioflue-cured.com

Canadian Seed Growers’ Association
Visit www.seedgrowers.ca

Canadian Canola Growers Association
Visit www.ccga.ca

Alberta Canola Producers’ Commission
Visit www.canola.ab.ca

Ontario Canola Growers’ Association
Visit www.ontariocanolagrowers.ca

Alberta Sugar Beet Growers
Visit www.absugar.ab.ca

PEI Potatoes
Visit www.peipotato.org

Ontario Potato Board
Visit www.ontariopotatoes.ca

Tour an Ontario crop farm on line at www.virtualfarmtours.ca

For information on Newfoundland’s field crop industry, visit Government of Newfoundland