Abstract
Unequal access to land, driven by decades of consolidation and concentration, is of increasing concern around the globe. This article analyzes growing farm consolidation and land concentration in the province of Saskatchewan, considered Canada’s agricultural powerhouse. Drawing on Land Titles data and Census of Agriculture statistics, we document trends associated with a changing farm structure such as increasingly large land holdings, growing ownership concentration, and the emergence of a class of mega-farms. The largest farms, many of which have roots in family enterprise, are becoming increasingly complex in their organizational form and in their relationships to farmland, rented and owned. Our qualitative analysis allows us to provide an ‘on the ground’ view of these trends, including the multiple social and environmental changes wrought by on-going consolidation. We argue that these trends are contributing to a homogenization, flattening, and emptying out of Saskatchewan rural landscapes. Furthermore, we document increasing competitive pressures and land market dynamics that will likely continue to exacerbate land inequality and impede the entry of new farmers. Our research underlines the importance of new, more sophisticated ways of conceptualizing the family farm and its evolution from ‘farm to firm’.
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Notes
We define ‘mega-farms’ as those over 30,000 acres. This is admittedly an arbitrary cut-off, but the category is meant to capture the very largest farming operations that are well-beyond the size of even very large, commercial family farms.
As of 2021, only 1.8% of farming operations were classified as ‘non-family corporations’ or ‘other operating arrangements’ (Statistics Canada 2022b).
The 10,000 acre threshold, though somewhat arbitrary, was chosen because farms of this scale are qualitatively different from typical commercial family-farms. For instance, a 5,000 acre grain farm can typically be managed with two full-time farm operators and one set of machinery, while farms 10,000 acres and larger may employ several full-time employees, manage two or more sets of machinery, and be able to negotiate bulk-buying or other strategic agreements with input providers, machinery dealers, and grain buyers.
The Treaty Land Entitlement process was established to resolve land debts owed to First Nations who had yet to receive all of the land they were entitled to under treaties signed by the Crown. The Entitlement agreements are negotiated among First Nations, the provincial and territorial governments, and the federal government. The entitlement is recognized either with a transfer of Crown land or funds to the First Nation’s Band so that they can then purchase the land.
Hutterites belong to an Anabaptist sect and operate large communal collectively owned farms.
According to Statistics Canada (2022a), the total farm area of Saskatchewan is 60.3 million acres.
This term is meant to capture large, commercial farming entities displaying both productive and financial logics in their business activities.
The farm name is a pseudonym. The information presented here is from a qualitative interview with the owner-operator of this farm, as part of Magnan’s interviews with very large farmers.
Abbreviations
- CEO:
-
Chief executive officer
- CFO:
-
Chief financial officer
- COO:
-
Chief operating officer
- CPPIB:
-
Canada pension plan investment board
- NFU:
-
National farmers union of Canada
- RM:
-
Rural municipality
- VRP:
-
Farms Van-Raay Paskal farms
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Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Grant # 435-2017-0270 and the Canada Research Chair Program. We thank Jeffrey Walters for his research assistance.
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Magnan, A., Davidson, M. & Desmarais, A.A. ‘They call it progress, but we don’t see it as progress’: farm consolidation and land concentration in Saskatchewan, Canada. Agric Hum Values 40, 277–290 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10353-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10353-y