Agricultural land use

Table of contents

Agricultural land use in Canada: why does it matter?

Land use decisions can significantly impact soil quality (soil organic matter, soil erosion, soil salinization, soil cover), water quality (nitrogen, pesticides, phosphorus and coliforms contamination), air quality (particulate matter, ammonia, greenhouse gas emissions) and wildlife habitat. These can affect the sustainability of the environment and the agricultural sector. Sustainability depends on the widespread use of management practices that prevent, or reduce, the degradation of soil, water, air and land.

Access to reliable, long-term information on trends in agricultural land use and management practices is essential for assessing changes to environmental sustainability of agriculture. Understanding changes in land use can also help anticipate changes in other sustainability indicators. This is important for understanding risks and opportunities, and for developing practices, policies, and programs that allow, promote and support sustainable agricultural production.

The Government of Canada must report on agricultural land use on farmland every five years. This helps the public know if Canada’s farmlands are healthy and where improvements to farming practices can be made.

How does agricultural land use impact environmental sustainability?

A number of factors influence agricultural land use decisions, including farm consolidation, agricultural intensification, changing consumer preferences, and market opportunities and barriers. These factors can influence the types of agricultural land use adopted across Canada. Land use can be measured as the amount and distribution of four main practices: agricultural land use types, cropping practices, tillage practices, and livestock management practices. Each of these can pose different environmental risks. Information about these practices is obtained from the Census of Agriculture and earth observation data (for example, satellite imagery).

Agricultural land use

  • Cropland (field crops, hay and forage crops, vegetables, fruits and berries, sod and nursery, Christmas trees)
  • Summerfallow
  • Pasture (improved pasture, rangeland)
  • Other land (woodlots, sugarbushes, windbreaks, marshes, bogs, ponds and sloughs, idle land, land with farm buildings, barnyards, lanes, and home gardens)

Cropping systems

  • Cereal grains (wheat, barley, oat, mixed grains)
  • Oilseeds (canola, soybean, mustard, flax, safflower, sunflower)
  • Corn (grain corn, silage corn)
  • Potatoes
  • Pulse crops (bean, soybean, lentils and peas)
  • Forage crops (alfalfa, tame hay, forage seed)
  • Other crops (for example, sugarbeet, vegetables, fruit, grape, berry)

Tillage practices

  • Conventional (intensive) tillage. Tillage practices that turn over the top 15 to 20 centimetres (6 to 8 inches) of soil, burying plant residues and exposing the soil. This is followed by secondary tillage to break up soil clumps and produce a smooth, even seedbed.
  • Conservation (reduced) tillage. Tillage practices that break up the soil and kill weeds but do not turn the soil over. This maintains most of the crop residue on the surface.
  • No-till. No tillage after one crop is harvested and the next crop is sown; all plant residues stay on the soil surface.
  • Summerfallow on which croplands are left unseeded for a growing season and weeds are controlled by tillage only. This practice traditionally includes periodic tillage during the growing season to bury crop residue.
  • Summerfallow on which croplands are left unseeded for a growing season and weeds are controlled by chemical applications and tillage. This involves reduced tillage frequency, or only spot cultivation.
  • Summerfallow on which croplands are left unseeded for a growing season and weeds are controlled by chemicals only. This practice does not involve tillage. Also known as chemfallow.

Livestock systems

Three main factors are used to determine the influence that livestock systems have on environmental risk:

  • The number of livestock farms and their location
  • The number and type of livestock (dairy, beef, pork, poultry, sheep/goat) on those farms
  • Changes over time

The crop and livestock sectors are closely connected, as the cropping systems used by many farms are determined by the feed and manure management requirements of on-farm livestock. In addition, efficient local production of some crop types encourages the development of specific livestock production systems. This relationship between land use and livestock production has significant implications for assessing and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, soil erosion, surface water and ground water contamination, soil carbon depletion and air quality degradation.

For example, an increase in the area of row crops under no-till, or an increase in the amount of land used to grow hay, pasture or other perennial crops can lower the risk of soil erosion and improve soil health. On the other hand, an increase in the area of row crops grown under conventional tillage or without low-erosion measures increases the risk of soil erosion and reduces soil health. Similarly, changes in the number, type and location of livestock can have significant implications for air, soil and water quality.

In some cases, higher production intensity may be harmful to the environment. However, improvements in environmental stewardship have been made on agricultural lands in recent years. These improvements include: a dramatic shift from conventional tillage to conservation tillage and no-till over the past several decades; widespread decline in the area devoted to summerfallow; and lower cattle and dairy numbers.

Agricultural land use in Canada: current state and the change over time

Land use

According to the 2021 Census of Agriculture, the total farm area in Canada was approximately 62.2 million hectares. Saskatchewan had the largest share of farmland (40.1%), while Newfoundland and Labrador had the smallest (0.08%). 

Cropland remained the dominant land use category, accounting for 57.6% of farmland (37.1 million hectares), though this represents a slight decrease from 2016. Long-term trends show a steady increase in cropland and tame pasture since 1921, while summerfallow has declined significantly, driven by sustainable practices such as no-till farming and crop rotation. 

In 2021, summerfallow continued its long-term decline, with only 534,157 hectares reported. This reduction is largely attributed to the adoption of no-till farming and herbicide-based weed control, which improve soil moisture retention, reduce erosion, and lower fuel consumption.

Crop production trends

Oilseed and cereal farms remain dominant in Canada, representing 34.3% of farms and 82.7% of total farm area, while beef operations account for 20.9% of farms.

Wheat continues to be the most extensively grown crop, covering 9.5 million hectares in 2021, up from 9.0 million hectares in 2016. Canola remains a key oilseed crop but declined from 9.2 million hectares in 2016 to 8.6 million hectares in 2021. Corn and soybeans maintained a strong presence in Ontario and Quebec, with corn increasing slightly to 1.5 million hectares, while soybeans decreased to 2.1 million hectares (from 2.3 million hectares in 2016). 

Pulse crops such as lentils and peas saw slight reductions: lentils decreased to 1.8 million hectares (from 2.3 million hectares in 2016), and peas declined to 1.5 million hectares (from 1.7 million hectares in 2016).

Major crop production in 2024

By 2024, production trends show dynamic changes:

  • Wheat output rose 6.1% to 35.0 million metric tonnes, driven by durum wheat gains (+43.6%).
  • Canola production fell 7.0% to 17.8 million metric tonnes due to lower yields and reduced area.
  • Corn for grain decreased slightly to 15.3 million metric tonnes, while soybean production grew 8.4% nationally to 7.6 million metric tonnes.
  • Barley production dropped 8.6%, while oats surged by 27% to 3.4 million metric tonnes.

These shifts reflect Canadian agriculture’s adaptability to market conditions, technology, and climate.

Forage crops and pasture

Between 2016 and 2021, the area dedicated to tame or seeded pasture decreased by 4.1%, while natural pasture increased slightly (+0.6%). The total area for hay and field crops rose marginally (+0.3%) to 92.9 million acres. Alberta and Saskatchewan remain major contributors to forage production, with alfalfa and other forage crops widely grown in the Prairie provinces. Ontario and Quebec also maintain significant forage areas to support the dairy and beef sectors.

Tillage practices

The adoption of no-till farming continued to rise, reaching 67% of farms by 2021 (up from 59% in 2016 and 6% in 1991). No-till practices are most common in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, driven by benefits such as improved moisture retention, reduced erosion, and lower fuel costs. Conservation tillage remains in use where surface residue buildup is a concern.

Livestock production trends

Cattle ranching and farming accounted for 23.5% of all farms in 2021, with the Prairie provinces hosting over 80% of beef cattle. Alberta alone had about 1.4 million head of feeder beef cattle, more than all other provinces combined. 

The number of farms reporting beef cattle declined by 10.2% from 2016 to 2021, and the number of beef cattle decreased by 3.1%. Dairy farms decreased by 12.1%, and dairy cow numbers fell by 2.8%, yet milk production rose 7.5%, reflecting consolidation. Pig numbers increased from 14.1 million in 2016 to 14.8 million in 2021, and poultry farms grew by 16.3%.

Agricultural land use intensity

Agricultural intensity, measured as the ratio of cropland to total farm area, increased significantly between 1981 and 2021, particularly in the Mixedwood Plains and Prairie regions. This trend is linked to the decline in summerfallow and conversion of pasture and idle land to annual crops. Technological advancements, climate adaptation strategies, and strong global commodity prices have driven this intensification, which often concentrates production on environmentally suitable soils, balancing productivity and sustainability.

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