Census of Agriculture - lowest level of geog available to capture a DP

Question
I also have a Census of Agriculture request and am trying to figure out if the Census of Agriculture captures data at the DA level?
Our researcher is looking at Lindell Beach (and its immediate environs) in BC which is a DP and so smaller obviously than a CAR but also a CSD or CD.

Answer
The lowest level of geography available for dissemination is the Census Consolidated Subdivision (CCS).

Census of Agriculture

Question
I have a researcher interested in the type of technologies (Step 23) used on farms based on gender, age, commodity (Step 6 and 28), gross farm receipts (Step 31), business operation expenses and total farm capital by census consolidated subdivision (CCS), Census Division (CD), Census agricultural region (CAR) . We have looked at the Farm and Farm Operator Data but it doesn't have this data. It this data available?


Answer
The Census of Agriculture team has provided us with an excel file that is comprised of farm and farm operator data (Canada, Province, CAR, CD and CCS) for 2016. The file is attached to this email.

AgCensus: wild boars

Question 
I have a question from a faculty member who’s researching wild boar production. In 2011, the census of Agriculture asked specifically about this (question 160), but in 2016 wild boar are lumped into the “other livestock” category (question 162), with respondents having the option to specify which type of critters they’re raising. Is there a way to extract wild boar production figures for 2016?

Answer
Unfortunately for 2016, wild boars are reported under the “other” livestock write-in cell of the questionnaire. The components of “other” cannot be released individually at this point in time due to quality concerns.

Agricultural Data

Question
I have a couple researchers who are looking for information about the following:

a) Producers who’ve reported cultivating at least some acreage of pulses (Lentils, field peas, chickpeas, and all pulses aggregated)
b) Educational attainment of farmers

They’d like this for the period 1976-2016 at either the CAR or CCS level.

Answer

Pulses in Canada (96-325-XWE) – An article from the 2011 Census of Agriculture
CANSIM Table 004-0110 - Socioeconomic overview of the farm population, number of operators per farm by occupation and level of educational attainment

“We cannot release micro-files (“producers who’ve reported cultivating at least some acreages of pulses” below). They can use our regular provincial CANSIM tables to enquire about pulses provincial productions over years requested (001-0017 for imperial figures and 001-0010 for metric figures). For any lower geography, they can find the same data (wherever possible to ensure confidentiality matters are respected), broken down at the CAR level in CANSIM 001-0071 (to be updated with 2016 data on upcoming February 13). The Census of Agriculture can also provide areas of pulses down to CCS level.”

The following reply is regarding your question on education attainment:

“The request is unfeasible, as Agriculture-Population linkage data is not available below the Province level. Note: There was no Agriculture-Population linkage done in 1976, as this year we had a short census of agriculture questionnaire.”

Glyphosate sales

Question
I have a researcher interested in obtaining glyphosate application and sales data. I have let her know about the Census of Agriculture but it is not detailed enough.  Is there additional information available?

I've also put in a request to Health Canada's Pesticides & Pest Management division for a copy of their most recent annual report. For some reason, these are not posted to the Web but only available upon request.

Answer 1
This is a good site on glyphosate http://www.carexcanada.ca/en/glyphosate/#sources

CAREX (CARcinogen EXposure) is a multi-institution research project that combines academic expertise and government resources to generate an evidence-based carcinogen surveillance program for Canada.

According to this site there has been no sales information on glyphosate available in Canada since 2013.

Response to Answer 1
Thanks,that is useful. The annual sales report has some information as well but does not break down by province. I've emailed the Health Canada library as well and we'll see what we get. Any further suggestions from the kind folks at Statistics Canada?

Answer 2
We have not yet received a response from subject matter, but in the past they directed clients to Health Canada. My colleague did some extra digging and this is what she found:

There is sales information in the Health Canada Pest Control Products Sales Report.

There is this one site - http://www.carexcanada.ca/en/glyphosate/#canadian_production_and_trade

“According to the Reporting Regulations for Pest Control Products Sales Information that came into force in November 2006, all pesticides sold and used in Canada must be registered with the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) at Health Canada.”

Even though it isn’t a government of Canada website, it quotes the sources that it took the information from, in the Sources section. This includes various Health Canada reports and the links to them.

Census and AgCensus Land Area

Question

How was or how is land area determined for the Census and Agcensus files?

Answer

Here is a description as to how land area is calculated for standard geographic areas.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/92-195-x/2011001/other-autre/land-terre/def-eng.htm

The Census of Agriculture (CAR) Regions boundary file doesn’t have land area as an attribute; although CARs are composed of groups of adjacent Census divisions except for Saskatchewan. See note below:

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/92-637-g/92-637-g2011001-eng.htm

Census agricultural region
Census agricultural regions (CARs) are composed of groups of adjacent census divisions.

In Saskatchewan, census agricultural regions are made up of groups of adjacent census consolidated subdivisions, but these groups do not necessarily respect census division boundaries.

Census consolidated subdivision
A census consolidated subdivision (CCS) is a group of adjacent census subdivisions. Generally, the smaller, more densely-populated census subdivisions (towns, villages, etc.) are combined with the surrounding, larger, more rural census subdivision, in order to create a geographic level between the census subdivision and the census division.

Acres of Organic Agriculture in Canada

Question

A researcher is wanting “ information on total number of acres of organic agriculture in Canada. “ I have been looking through the 2006 Census of Agriculture DLI tables and can see info on the numbers of farms reporting organic products, but not the numbers of acres cultivated using organic practices. Is this info available?

Answer

I asked our Census of Agriculture contacts about your question and they unfortunately don't have data on acres of organic agriculture in Canada. They explained that while they know what farms declare organic products, they don't know how much of the farm is organic. If a farm operator declares hay and field crops organic products they don't know if all of the field crops are organic or only selected field crops.

You may wish to see if data on this topic are available from other organizations and departments (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for example).

I hope that this confirmation is helpful.

Census of Agriculture Response Rates

Question

An Economics student has asked me where to find the response rates for the 1986, 1991, and 1996 Censuses of Agriculture. Is this published somewhere, and if so, where?

Thanks for your help.

Answer

Our Census of Agriculture contacts have looked into your question and have located the following sources and information:

Catalogue no. 96-102 Census Canada 1986 Agriculture page xv
In 1986 Census, the non-response rate amounted to less than 0.5 per cent

Catalogue no. 93-350 Agricultural Profile of Canada Census 1991 pt. 1 page xxi
A response rate of over 98% also contributed to its overall success.

Catalogue no. 93-356-XPB Agricultural Profile of Canada Census 1996 page xix
A response rate of almost 99% also contributed to the overall success of the 1996 Census of Agriculture.

Farm Workers

Question

A researcher is trying to estimate the exposure of farm workers in Canada to pesticides. That is the big question and we have been trying to figure out what data would help to provide some answers. So far she is stymied by the lack of appropriate data even on the number of farm or agricultural workers.

The Census of Canada has the most detail about occupations. The Census of Agriculture has the most information about farm operations . Files provided by the DLI are helpful, particularly 2006 CEAG Farm Data as it has information on the numbers of farms using herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides; but neither census gets to the heart of the question at the level of detail the researchers would like.

She is wondering whether it is possible to find the following from any source, including a custom tabulation (this is one part of a larger research project with funding):

- Number of farm workers (farm operators plus paid workers)
- By province, or even better by region within each province
- By type of farming operation (livestock, field crops, fruits, berries, hay, etc.)

Her further question is why it is easy to find a CANSIM table with information about the greenhouse, nursery and sod industries but so hard to find information about employees in the other types of agricultural operations.

Answer

The Census of Agriculture unfortunately does not collect data on farm workers or the number of farm workers on an agricultural operation. Our agriculture contacts described the closest data they could offer as follows:

"Unfortunately the Census of Agriculture does not collect data about farm workers, or even the number of farm workers on an agricultural operation. Our questionnaire really focuses only on Operations and Operators.

The only data we could offer is the number of weeks of paid work – yearly and seasonal - by region, and by farm types.

The following link to our released data shows the number of weeks by region: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/95-629-x/2007000/4182411-eng.htm#paid

If you are interested in having the data classified by farm types, this would be a custom request. Our custom tabulation start at $300, and vary according to the level of complexity of the request."

The CEAG Farm Data file in the DLI collection also appears to include variables on paid work.

Additional Information

Another agriculture contact sent me some additional information a few minutes ago explaining that it is easier to find information about workers in the greenhouse, nursery and sod industries because these labour data are collected through the Annual Greenhouse, Sod and Nursery Survey which includes the following questions:

"Please include owners and family workers in the following labour questions:

25. How many seasonal workers did your greenhouse employ (less than 8 months) in 2009?
26. How many permanent workers (full-time and part-time) did your greenhouse employ (8 months and more) in 2009?
27. What was your total payroll (including owners' salaries) in 2009?"