Large commercial producers are going under the microscope.
Researchers want to find out who they are, what they want, how they make decisions and what challenges they face.
A survey will have been sent to 600 Canadian producers across Canada by the end of February, asking them questions about various aspects of their farm business.
A similar survey was conducted in 1993.
A large commercial producer is defined as a farmer with gross sales of more than $250,000.
About 39,000 farmers met that criterion in the 2006 census of agriculture.
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That accounted for 17 percent of farmers and 75 percent of gross farm receipts. Some of those farms had receipts in excess of $1 million.
Tom Funk, professor emeritus at Ontario’s University of Guelph, said the study is focusing on large commercial producers because they are the most significant group in agricultural production.
“That’s not to say small or part-time farmers aren’t important, but we feel this is a different group,” he said.
“Certainly from an input suppliers’ point of view, they buy the bulk of the products and therefore we want to focus on them.”
He said he hopes to undertake a similar study of medium and small farmers next year.
The resulting data will be sold for a fee of $12,500 for the full report.
Ipsos Forward Research and Agri Studies Inc. is conducting the study in co-operation with Top Crop Manager and The Western Producer.
