Widespread farmland flooding was seen as a disaster in Saskatchewan last year, but in the end it turned out to be good news for the province.
Realized net income in Saskatchewan increased 37 percent last year to $2.16 billion from $1.577 billion the previous year. That was despite a large swath of Saskatchewan farmland being under water.
Meanwhile, Alberta recorded a realized negative net income of $61.5 million, more than $120 million worse than in 2009.
How could relatively flood-free Alberta be in worse shape than flood-disaster Saskatchewan?
Agriculture Canada says the floods were a boon to Saskatchewan’s overall farm income numbers, even if they were a disaster to individual farms.
Unseeded acres do not require the normal inputs, so operating expenses in Saskatchewan fell more than $600 million last year. The decline in Alberta was only $140 million.
While receipts from sales of Saskatchewan crops tumbled $589 million last year because of the smaller crop, program payments almost doubled to more than $900 million.
In Alberta, program payments fell slightly.
As a result, realized net income soared in Saskatchewan while tumbling in Alberta.
Saskatchewan farmers also compensated for lower production by selling inventory.
Statistics Canada reported that Saskatchewan total net income, which includes inventory values, fell 60 percent last year to $785 million, while in Alberta, increased inventories raised total net income to $256 million, still far below Saskatchewan’s level.
“Government payments went up, almost doubled, in Saskatchewan (and) especially important were payments related to unseeded acres caused by excessive moisture,” said an analysis from Agriculture Canada.
“Government payments in Alberta did not change significantly.”
