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Average Farm Size Has Stopped Growing

Mike von Massow

Sep 8, 2022
2 min

Average Farm Size Has Stopped Growing

By Reanna Braeker and Alfons Weersink Average farm size in Canada has fallen! In the 2021 census it was only 809 acres, down from 820 acres in the previous census in 2016. Steady increase in farm size before last census The decline is the first observed in the last 100 years as illustrated in Figure 1. Average farm size was only 200 acres in 1921 and steadily increased with each census until the most recent one. The average farm grew by nearly 10% between every 5-year census

Farm Numbers in Canada Continue to Fall but the Trend is Slowing

Mike von Massow

Jul 12, 2022
3 min

Farm Numbers in Canada Continue to Fall but the Trend is Slowing

By Reanna Braeker and Alfons Weersink Farm numbers in Canada have been falling since the Great Depression and the numbers continue to fall according to the latest census. The changes in farm numbers over the last 50 years are illustrated in Figure 1. In 1971 there were over 366,000 farms, however, by 2016 there were approximately half that number. While the numbers continue to fall, the rate of decrease has slowed in recent years. What is a Farm? When looking at the stats on

Revisiting Canadian Beef Processing: Is Everything Back to Normal?

Mike von Massow

Dec 17, 2020
3 min

Revisiting Canadian Beef Processing: Is Everything Back to Normal?

Nicholas Bannon, Alfons Weersink, and Michael von Massow At the beginning of June, a Food Focus blog post spoke about the significant disruptions felt throughout the Canadian beef sector stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. The culprit was a widespread outbreak at Cargill’s High River, Alberta, facility which happens to be the largest beef processing plant in Canada. This outbreak saw a two-week period in April and May where the weekly number of cattle processed in Canadian f

Barriers to Precision Agriculture Adoption Across Canada and in the United States

Mike von Massow

Aug 7, 2020
3 min

Barriers to Precision Agriculture Adoption Across Canada and in the United States

By Nicholas Bannon, Sean Mitchell and Alfons Weersink Farm size, crop types, topography, climate, and labour use are only some of the differences between farming operations located in Ontario, the Prairies, and in the U.S.A. Midwest States. Surprisingly, despite these differences farmers in these regions face nearly identical barriers to further adoption of precision agriculture technologies. During the summer of 2019, the Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economi

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Mike von Massow

May 1, 2020
1 min

Why is Foodora leaving and what does it mean for food delivery in Canada

We recently heard the news that Foodora has decided to pull out of Canada's market. This came as a surprise as under today's social distancing rules, food delivery represents the only way to get food from restaurants and therefore, has increased dramatically. In the video below, I explain why Foodora is leaving the market in what would initially seem to be a golden opportunity moment. #fooddelivery #Canada #market #business Recommended citation format: von Massow, M. "Why is

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Mike von Massow

Apr 30, 2020
1 min

No meat shortages expected in Canada

This news article was originally posted on the University of Guelph's news page on April 20th, 2020 and can be found here. Although several meat processing facilities in Canada and the U.S. have closed or are reducing production because of outbreaks of COVID-19 among staff, we do not expect meat shortages in the near future. Mike Von Massow, curator of the Food Focus platform, provides further thoughts in the video below. He is available for interviews. Overview Recent closur

Is self-checkout on its way out?

Molly Gallant

Oct 24, 2019
4 min

Is self-checkout on its way out?

At the end of every trip to the store, we are faced with two checkout options. The first is to step right up to a self-checkout machine, for which there is rarely a line, or else to wait an additional few minutes to interact with a cashier and pay for our purchases in person. For myself, the choice is always clear. I much prefer checking out with a cashier. This is largely because I find self-checkout doesn’t actually save me much time. Between searching for product codes, we

Shaping the Canadian food waste conversation

Molly Gallant

Sep 6, 2019
3 min

Shaping the Canadian food waste conversation

This blog post discusses our team's recently published peer-reviewed article. For the full article, please visit this page. As we have discussed in previous blog posts, food waste is now recognized around the world as a pressing environmental, social and economic issue. Although food waste occurs at all stages of food production and consumption, some estimates suggest that up to 50% of food waste in Canada is generated at the household-level. As awareness around food waste gr

Canadian fertilizer application rates

Nicholas Bannon

Aug 29, 2019
3 min

Canadian fertilizer application rates

This article was written by Nicholas Bannon and Alfons Weersink and was originally posted on farms.com. Rather than simply examining total amounts of fertilizer farmers apply per province, we should consider application rates. In recent articles, we have explored changes in fertilizer usage over time across Ontario. Although the acres of Ontario cropland receiving fertilizer have only changed slightly, the estimated fertilizer use doubled between 2008 and 2018. This finding l

African swine fever in China affects Canadian pork export market

Mike von Massow

Aug 28, 2019
4 min

African swine fever in China affects Canadian pork export market

I was recently asked to complete an email interview on African swine fever, the Chinese pork industry and Canadian exports. I thought it might make an interesting blog post here as well. Q1: Explain the impact of African swine fever in China, the world’s largest consumer of pork, on Canada’s pork industry. African swine fever is ravaging the Chinese swine industry. It has high rates of mortality and is very contagious. The virus can live for a long time in meat so even ship

Fertilizer use on the rise?

Nicholas Bannon

Aug 20, 2019
3 min

Fertilizer use on the rise?

This article was written by Nicholas Bannon and Alfons Weersink and was originally posted on farms.com. Our recent article explored the changes in Ontario acreage on which farmers applied nutrients between 1971 and 2016. Aside from an increase in the area of application in the 1970s due to an expansion in the amount of corn planted, the area of application remained constant in the subsequent years. But has the total amount of fertilizer applied changed? Efforts such as the 4R

Crop acres and fertilizer applications

Nicholas Bannon

Aug 12, 2019
3 min

Crop acres and fertilizer applications

This post was written by Nicholas Bannon and Alfons Weersink and was originally posted on farms.com. Fertilizer use in agriculture is under increasing scrutiny largely due to environmental concerns associated with emissions into the air (nitrous oxide) and the water (nitrates and phosphates). Algae blooms in Lake Erie are an example of the effects of excess nutrient runoff and the concerns have sparked the implementation of initiatives such as the 4R nutrient management progr

Canadian food is worth celebrating

Mitchell Gingerich

Aug 2, 2019
4 min

Canadian food is worth celebrating

August 3rd is Food Day Canada; a day set aside to celebrate Canadian food. Not only does that involve celebrating food planted, grown and harvested in Canada, it also includes appreciating our Canadian culinary heritage, our dedicated farmers, meticulous processors, creative chefs, master home cooks and most importantly, the delicious food that colours your plate. This exciting day has motivated us to explore Canadian food in more detail. What is Canadian food? Canadian food

China and trade: easy to criticize but not much Canada can do

Mike von Massow

Jul 5, 2019
2 min

China and trade: easy to criticize but not much Canada can do

China continues to put up new barriers to trade for Canadian food products. Each action is built on the pretence of a technical issue, contamination in canola seed, and banned products and forged documentation for pork. While there remains some disagreement as to the validity of the complaints, it seems relatively clear from the timing (Meng Wanzho’s arrest and perhaps an upcoming federal election) that politics is playing a primary role in motivating these actions. There con

Is Canada’s food policy biting off more than it can chew?

Mike von Massow

Jun 24, 2019
2 min

Is Canada’s food policy biting off more than it can chew?

Last week, the Government of Canada released “Everyone at the Table”; a food policy for Canada. It has an ambitious agenda covering a range of admirable objectives. There is no doubt that the initiatives under the food policy are worth pursuing. The question becomes whether an overarching food policy that includes these disparate policy objectives can effectively make progress on any of them. Among the priorities listed are: Food insecurity/food access; Food waste; Healthy ea

Are farm numbers declining across Ontario?

Nicholas Bannon

Jun 3, 2019
3 min

Are farm numbers declining across Ontario?

This post was written by Nicholas Bannon and Alfons Weersink and was first published on farms.com. While farm numbers have dropped at the provincial level, the story is a bit more complicated when you examine the regional trends. Canada has less than 200,000 farms, according to the last census in 2016, and around 25% of them are located in Ontario. The number of farms in Canada has fallen by approximately 75% since the peak in 1941. Where are the remaining Ontario farms and i

The weaponization of trade will hurt Canadian ag and food industry

Mike von Massow

Apr 1, 2019
3 min

The weaponization of trade will hurt Canadian ag and food industry

Export trade has been an important part of Canada’s agriculture and food economy. Half of what we produce in this country is sold in international markets at a value of $56 billion. Trade is also important for food processor representing about 1 in 4 jobs. One of the drivers for developing new trade agreements and partnerships is to expand opportunities for Canadian products. In the past we have had trade disputes with a variety of countries. There have been complaints about

The fight against food waste should take place in the kitchen

Molly Gallant

Mar 25, 2019
4 min

The fight against food waste should take place in the kitchen

Growing concerns about the environmental, economic and social impacts of food waste have resulted in this topic making headlines almost daily. Although there remains significant discussion, some estimates suggest that here in Canada, we waste $31 billion worth of food annually with about 50% of that waste being attributed to the household. With food more abundantly available and convenience taking priority, evidence suggests that food waste is a contemporary problem. Looking

Are all of the eggs in your basket the same?

Molly Gallant

Mar 11, 2019
4 min

Are all of the eggs in your basket the same?

The infamous egg has been through it all with us – the ups, the downs and the altogether scrambled. The rollercoaster ride of contradictory dietary recommendations experienced by the egg is not at all unique in the world of food. As nutritional scientists continue to study and evaluate the health consequences of certain foods, we learn new information every day and the food industry adapts accordingly. However, the humble egg is perhaps one of the few foods that after a prolo

Vegan virtue signalling complicates trend interpretation

Mike von Massow

Mar 4, 2019
2 min

Vegan virtue signalling complicates trend interpretation

Vegans and vegetarians have been getting considerable attention. The move to increasingly plant-based diets was reinforced by the newly released Canada Food Guide. The change in Canadian meat consumption is real but the truth is likely that it’s not due to vegans or vegetarians. The reasons are many (and we have an upcoming blog post that outlines them) but increasing number of vegans and vegetarians are an important contributor. The percentage of vegans and vegetarians in Ca

RELATED PROJECTS

Considering the complexity of food, it is no surprise that conversations about it can be broad and diverse. In order to better understand how people think about food, Mike is involved in several projects. Learn more about each project below.

Ready to Serve

UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH SUSTAINABLE RESTAURANT PROJECT

Our team is a group of students, faculty and community partners that are committed to working towards a more sustainable future for the restaurant industry. Every year we hold a forum, bringing prominent speakers to the University of Guelph to discuss issues in the Canadian Restaurant Industry.

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