Agricultural Products in Canada: Output, Exports, Waste

Canada’s main agricultural products are wheat, canola, corn, barley, soybeans and oats, plus cattle, hogs, milk, potatoes and fruit. In 2025 farmers harvested a record 40.0 million tonnes of wheat and 21.8 million tonnes of canola, and the full farm and food system added about C$158 billion to the economy (Statistics Canada; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada).

This guide lists what Canada grows and raises, where each product comes from and what it earns. It also covers the straw and manure left over after harvest. You get a province table, three dated charts and a calculator that tests whether your straw is worth more in the field or in a bale.

Canada’s main agricultural products by output

Grains and oilseeds lead Canadian crop output. Statistics Canada’s December 2025 field crop report put wheat at 40.0 million tonnes, a record that passed the previous high set in 2013. Canola reached 21.8 million tonnes, also a record. The six crops in the chart add up to about 97 million tonnes (our sum of the published figures).

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Canada’s biggest crops by 2025 output

Million tonnes harvested in 2025

Good rain late in the season on the Prairies lifted yields in 2025. Eastern Canada was drier. Corn for grain fell 3.1% and soybeans fell 10.2% from 2024, so the pattern was not the same everywhere.

Where the big crops are grown

The table shows each crop’s leading provinces in 2025, from the same Statistics Canada report. Production is in million tonnes.

Barley reached 9.7 million tonnes (up 19.4%) and oats 3.9 million tonnes (up 16.7%) in 2025. Statistics Canada also reported higher production of dry peas and lentils, Canada’s main pulses.

What Canadian farm products earn and export

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada reports C$97.4 billion in farm market receipts for 2025, which are farmers’ sales of commodities without government payments. Animal products brought in C$45.3 billion, principal field crops C$34.3 billion and horticulture C$10.1 billion. Animal products were the largest of those three groups. All crops together earned more: Statistics Canada puts 2025 crop receipts at C$52.1 billion against C$45.3 billion for livestock (May 2026 release), because potatoes, cannabis and other crops sit outside the three groups.

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Farm market receipts by sector, 2025

C$ billion; sales of commodities, without government payments

The whole agriculture and agri-food system employed 2.3 million people, or 1 in 9 jobs, and generated about C$158 billion, around 7% of GDP. Primary farming alone was C$37.8 billion, or 1.6% of GDP. Realized net farm income, what farmers keep after expenses, was C$8.3 billion in 2025, down 0.3% (Statistics Canada). Canada has about 190,000 farms on 62.2 million hectares, which is 6.2% of its land (the farm count dates from the 2021 census).

Trade matters a great deal. Canada exported about C$101.2 billion of agriculture, food, fish and seafood products in 2025, making it the world’s 10th largest exporter of agri-food, fish and seafood products. The United States took about 61% and China, the second market, C$4.3 billion.

Which products are earning more

Prices and trade rules move receipts from year to year. Statistics Canada’s January to June table compares the first half of 2025 with the first half of 2026 (the 2026 figures are preliminary). Canola, cattle, lentils and dry peas rose. Wheat fell.

The February 2026 release explains part of the swing. Canola receipts fell in 2025 because tariffs on canola cut exports and lowered marketings by 6.9%, and lentil and dry pea receipts fell on lower prices and volumes, according to the Statistics Canada farm cash receipts release. Cattle receipts rose as tight supply supported prices, which were up 22.7% in that release (revised to 24.4% in May 2026).

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Farm cash receipts, first half of 2025 and 2026

C$ million; selected commodities, 2026 figures preliminary

Agriculture products in Canada by province

Each province leans on different products. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada lists the three largest commodities by average 2021 to 2025 farm cash receipts. The territories are not in the list.

Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, sector overview. Read it as the ranking inside each province, not as a national ranking.

Agricultural products A to Z

Here is the product list by group, with the figures we could source.

Grains and oilseeds

Wheat, including durum, is mostly a Prairie crop: Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba grew 36.4 of the 40.0 million tonnes harvested in 2025. Durum wheat reached 7.1 million tonnes. Canola is grown mainly on the Prairies and, at 21.8 million tonnes, is far larger than soybeans at 6.8 million tonnes, which are led by Ontario and Quebec. Corn is concentrated in Ontario, which grows more than half of the national crop. Barley and oats rounded out the 2025 harvest at 9.7 and 3.9 million tonnes.

Pulses and other field crops

Lentils and dry peas are the main pulses. Their receipts fell in 2025 and rose in the first half of 2026 (see the chart above). Chickpeas, dry beans and flaxseed also appear on the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada list of principal field crops.

Fruit and vegetables

Canada produced 930,982 tonnes of fruit in 2024, the third highest level in a decade, with receipts close to C$1.3 billion, says the fruit industry overview from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Apples, grapes, blueberries and cranberries are major groups. British Columbia grew 94% of Canada’s highbush blueberries in 2024, and a January 2024 cold snap cut its tree fruit and wine grape crops sharply. Potatoes are the top commodity in Prince Edward Island and in the top three in New Brunswick. Greenhouse vegetables earned C$1,992 million in the first half of 2026 and field vegetables C$788 million (preliminary, Statistics Canada).

Animal products

Livestock receipts rose 13.3% to C$45.3 billion in 2025 on higher prices. Dairy, eggs and poultry are supply-managed and together earned C$15.7 billion, over one-third of livestock receipts. Cattle lead in Alberta and rank third in Saskatchewan, while hogs rank in the top three in Manitoba and Quebec. Sheep and lambs are a smaller line: C$178 million in the first half of 2026.

A-Z index: B Barley, Beef, Blueberries. C Canola, Chickpeas, Corn, Cranberries. D Dairy, Dry peas, Durum. E Eggs. F Flaxseed, Fruit. G Grapes, Greenhouse vegetables. H Hogs. L Lentils. O Oats. P Potatoes, Poultry. S Soybeans, Sheep. W Wheat.

What happens to manure and straw on Canadian farms

Farm by-products are large. An IEA Bioenergy report puts Canada’s manure at about 21 million tonnes of dry matter a year (animal numbers from 2018 to 2021). Over 98% is spread on soil without treatment, about 1% goes through anaerobic digestion, and a small amount of beef manure is composted. Spreading follows provincial rules and farm nutrient plans.

By December 2023 the same report counted 50 manure-based digesters in Canada. Together they processed about 1 million tonnes of fresh manure a year. Most mix dairy manure with food waste from off the farm. Biogas from a farm digester is about 60% methane, says Ontario’s fact sheet on farm digester energy, and the digested material goes back to the land as a nutrient source. The US EPA AgSTAR page explains the process step by step.

Straw is a different case. Straw is a crop residue, which the FAO defines as plant material left in a field after harvest, such as straw or stover. The IEA report says Canada uses straw in digesters to a very small extent, because straw has other markets and is a costly biogas feedstock. Policy has also pushed farmers to keep crop residue and cover crops on fields to cut erosion and build soil carbon. For practical steps on cutting waste earlier in the chain, read managing food waste on farms.

▶ How mixing crops and animals on one farm turns manure into fertilizer and crop leftovers into feed. · 2:55

Is your straw worth more in the field or in a bale?

When a buyer offers cash for straw, the field loses nutrients. Ohio State University Extension gives “book values” for wheat straw of about 3.7 lb of P2O5 and 29 lb of K2O per ton, plus about 11 lb of nitrogen (OSU C.O.R.N. Newsletter). It does not price the nitrogen, because straw nitrogen is locked in an organic form that plants cannot use quickly.

The calculator below uses those P2O5 and K2O figures. Enter the straw you would remove, your fertilizer prices and the bale price. Straw also holds organic matter, and a soil test and a lab straw sample give a better answer than any book value. Local rules and your crop insurance or program terms may also affect residue removal, so check them first.

Try the numbers for your own farm below.

Satellites and field monitoring

Large prairie fields are hard to walk. Satellite vegetation maps show where a crop is growing unevenly, so a farmer knows which part of a field to check first. They show change in plant cover, not the cause, so a visit or a soil and tissue test still decides the action. Farmonaut Satellite + AI Farm Monitoring System offers field maps on the web app, Android and iOS. Developers can use the satellite data API, with guides in the API developer documentation.

▶ How satellite NDVI maps show crop stress across a large farm before it is visible from the ground. · 4:09

A simple first step with farm data

You do not need a robot to start. Draw your field boundaries once, check a vegetation map every couple of weeks in the growing season, and note what you find on the ground. Compare those notes with your yield map at harvest and with the crop table above to see which fields, and which products, earned their place in your rotation.

▶ Six plain steps to start digital farming without buying a robot. · 4:18

Risks and limits of these numbers

Receipts depend on prices, exports and weather, so a single year can mislead. Half-year figures are preliminary and get revised. Canada’s national totals are not your farm’s results, and yields vary by field and by season. Provincial rankings use averages over five years.

FAQ

What are the top agricultural products in Canada?

By 2025 output, wheat (40.0 million tonnes), canola (21.8), corn for grain (14.9), barley (9.7), soybeans (6.8) and oats (3.9) lead the crops (Statistics Canada). By sales, animal products led the three groups AAFC lists in 2025 at C$45.3 billion, ahead of principal field crops at C$34.3 billion and horticulture at C$10.1 billion (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada). All crops together earned more than livestock.

What does Canada export most?

Canada exported about C$101.2 billion of agriculture, food, fish and seafood products in 2025 (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada). The United States took about 61%. Principal field crops accounted for C$26.5 billion of exports, with China (16%), the United States (10%) and Japan (10%) the top markets.

Which province grows the most wheat and canola?

Saskatchewan led both in 2025, with 18.2 million tonnes of wheat and 12.2 million tonnes of canola, ahead of Alberta (Statistics Canada).

What is agro waste, and how is it used in Canada?

Agro waste means manure, straw, husks, peels and similar by-products. Over 98% of Canada’s manure is spread on soil untreated and about 1% is digested for biogas, while straw is used in digesters only to a very small extent (IEA Bioenergy, 2025 report, 2018-2021 animal data).

How can satellites help with Canadian crops?

Satellite maps show where a field’s plant cover differs from the rest, which tells you where to scout first. They do not name the cause of the change. Pesticide and fertilizer decisions still need a field check, the product label and local rules.

How we checked the numbers

We used Statistics Canada’s field crop and farm cash receipts releases, the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada sector and fruit overviews, an IEA Bioenergy report, Ontario’s digester fact sheet and Ohio State University Extension. Canadian dollar figures are as published. Fertilizer prices in the calculator are examples: use today’s prices and read the product label and your province’s rules before changing nutrient plans.

Related pages on our site: machinery tracking for large farms, supply chain traceability, carbon footprint tracking, satellite checks for crop loans and insurance, sustainable farming practices and organic produce.