StatsCan mulls ending farmer surveys in 2026

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Published: September 15, 2022

"By replacing time consuming surveys with administrative data, satellite technology and advanced modelling techniques, we are providing the same great data that farmers and Canadians rely on," StatsCan said in an Aug. 29 news release. | File photo

Agency says the move would be driven by goal to ‘reduce the response burden on farmers to as close to zero as possible’

By 2026, Statistics Canada may stop asking producers about their seeding intentions, how many people they employ and other questions about their on-farm activities.

StatsCan will continue to publish data on crops, livestock and adoption of new technology, so the ag industry knows what’s happening on Canadian farms. But the agency is moving away from traditional surveys to gather such information to reduce the burden on farmers.

“By replacing time consuming surveys with administrative data, satellite technology and advanced modelling techniques, we are providing the same great data that farmers and Canadians rely on,” StatsCan said in an Aug. 29 news release.

Read Also

Alex Wood exhibits a bull at the Ag in Motion 2025 junior cattle show.

First annual Ag in Motion Junior Cattle Show kicks off with a bang

Ag in Motion 2025 had its first annual junior cattle show on July 15. The show hosted more than 20…

The StatsCan effort to replace surveys is known as AgZero, a project that began in 2019.

The basic idea is to use alternative sources of data and new technologies to “reduce the response burden on farmers to as close to zero as possible by 2026.”

The shift is already underway.

For six years, StatsCan has used satellite imagery, weather data and crop insurance data for its Field Crop Reporting Series, which estimates the yield, acreage and production of Canadian crops.

Its July and September field crop reports no longer use farmer surveys to generate the estimates.

StatsCan is also developing a way to estimate seeding intentions of farmers in March without a survey of producers.

“We are using administrative data and machine learning algorithms. This alternative method of producing reliable data on seeding intentions will result in one less survey for farmers to complete,” StatsCan says.

The agency has also made progress in tracking renewable sources of energy on farms to cut down on questions in farmer surveys.

“Starting in 2018, we have been using experimental high-resolution satellite imagery and advanced modelling techniques to automatically identify solar panels, mainly on farms, to estimate total solar output.”

However, satellite images of farm buildings and equipment can lead to concerns about privacy.

StatsCan says all collected information is anonymous.

“This means that data that is made public can never be connected to you, your household or business,” the agency said.

About the author

Robert Arnason

Robert Arnason

Reporter

Robert Arnason is a reporter with The Western Producer and Glacier Farm Media. Since 2008, he has authored nearly 5,000 articles on anything and everything related to Canadian agriculture. He didn’t grow up on a farm, but Robert spent hundreds of days on his uncle’s cattle and grain farm in Manitoba. Robert started his journalism career in Winnipeg as a freelancer, then worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Nipawin, Saskatchewan and Fernie, BC. Robert has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Manitoba and a diploma in LSJF – Long Suffering Jets’ Fan.

explore

Stories from our other publications