Confidential when completed. This survey is conducted under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, c. S-19. Completion of this questionnaire is a legal requirement under the Statistics Act.

The purpose of this survey is to obtain information on areas and production of crops, and hay and pasture land.

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from publishing any statistics which would divulge information obtained from this survey that relates to any identifiable business, institution or individual without the previous written consent of that business, institution or individual. The data reported on this questionnaire will be treated in confidence, used for statistical purposes and published in aggregate form only. The confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act are not affected by either the Access to Information Act or any other Legislation.

Statistics Canada advises you that there could be a risk of disclosure of your information if you choose to return it by fax, e-mail or other electronic means. Upon receipt of your information, Statistics Canada will provide the level of protection required by the Statistics Act.

Review the information on the label. If any information is incorrect or missing, please make the necessary corrections in the boxes below.

  • Farm Name (if applicable)
  • Surname or Family Name
  • Usual First Name and Initial
  • Area Code
  • Telephone
  • R.R.
  • Box No.
  • Number and Street Name
  • Postal Code
  • Post Office (name of city, town or village where mail is received)
  • E-mail Address (if applicable)
  • Partner's Name (if applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Partner's Name (if applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Corporation Name (if applicable)

The following questions deal with all land operated.

Include:

  • Land rented from other operations and Crown or public land used for agricultural purposes.

Exclude:

  • Land rented to other operations.

Section A fall rye and winter wheat seeded and harvested

1. Did you seed any Fall Rye or Winter Wheat in the fall of 2008?

  • Yes
  • No - (go to section B.)

2. Which crops did you seed?

  • Fall Rye (go to the next question.)
  • Winter Wheat

3. Indicate the area seeded and the area harvested or expected to be harvested as grain. Also indicate the yield or total production you obtained or expect to obtain.

  1. Seeded area
  2. UOM (ac, ha)
  3. UOM (1 to 12 and 19) (see end of the section)
  4. Harvested as grain area
  5. Average Yield
  • Fall Rye
  • Winter Wheat
  • Total harvested as grain area (sum of 3a to 3b)

Unit of measure (UOM) – Section A

Yield – Area

  • Bushels (BU)
    • Acres - 1
    • Hectares - 7
  • Kilograms (KG)
    • Acres - 2
    • Hectares - 8
  • Metric Tonnes (MT)
    • Acres - 3
    • Hectares - 9
  • Imperial Tons (IT)
    • Acres - 4
    • Hectares - 10
  • Pounds (LB)
    • Acres - 5
    • Hectares - 11
  • Hundred Weight (CWT)
    • Acres - 6
    • Hectares - 12
  • Total production
    • BU 19 - 1 (19)
    • MT 19 - 2 (21)
    • IT 19 - 3 (22)
    • KG 19 - 4 (20)
    • LB 19 - 5 (23)
    • CWT 19 - 6 (24)

Section B fall rye and winter wheat seeding intentions

1. Do you intend to seed any Fall Rye or Winter Wheat in the fall of 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to section C.)

2. Which crops do you intend to seed?

  • Fall Rye
  • Winter Wheat

3. What area do you intend to seed? UOM (ac, ha)

  • Fall Rye
  • Winter Wheat  

Section C seeded area, harvested area and yield

1. Did you seed any crops in 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to section D.)

2. Indicate the area seeded and the area harvested or expected to be harvested (as grain). Also indicate the yield or total production you obtained or expect to obtain.

  • Seeded area
  • UOM (ac, ha)
  • Harvested/harvested as grain area
  • Average yield
  • UOM 1 to 12 and 19 (see end of the section)

a. Barley
b. Borage Seed
c. Buckwheat
d. Canary Seed, Hairless (Canario)
e. Canary Seed, Regular
f. Canola
g. Caraway Seed
h. Chick Peas, Desi
i. Chick Peas, Kabuli
j. Chick Peas, Other and unknown
k. Coriander Seed
l. Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
m. Dry Beans, Black (Black Turtle, Preto)
n. Dry Beans, Cranberry (Romano)
o. Dry Beans, Dark Red Kidney
p. Dry Beans, Faba (Fava, Broad)
q. Dry Beans, Great Northern
r. Dry Beans, Light Red Kidney
s. Dry Beans, Pinto
t. Dry Beans, Small Red (Red Mexican)
u. Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
v. Dry Beans, Other and unknown
w. Dry Field Peas - green
x. Dry Field Peas - yellow
y. Dry Field Peas - other and unknown
z. Flaxseed
aa. Fodder Corn
3. What is the percent moisture content of the harvested or to be harvested Fodder Corn?
ab. Lentils - large green
ac. Lentils - red
ad. Lentils - small green
ae. Lentils - other and unknown
af. Linola (solin)
ag. Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
ah. Mustard Seed - brown
ai. Mustard Seed - oriental
aj. Mustard Seed - yellow
ak. Mustard Seed - other and unknown
al. Oats
am. Potatoes
an. Safflower
ao. Soybeans
ap. Spring Rye
aq. Sugar Beets
ar. Sunflower Seeds (include Sunola & other dwarf varieties)
as. Triticale
at. Wheat, Durum
au. Wheat Spring, Canadian Western Extra Strong (utility)
av. Wheat Spring, Hard Red
aw. Wheat Spring, Red Prairie (semi-dwarf varieties)
ax. Wheat Spring, White Prairie (include semi-dwarf varieties butexclude Soft White Spring Wheat)
ay. Wheat Spring, Soft White (exclude White Prairie Spring Wheat)
az. Wheat Spring, Other (unlicensed varieties, including Grandin Wheat)
ba. Other Field Crops (list in comments)
bb. Total seeded area (sum of 2a to 2ba)

Unit of measure (UOM) – Section C

Yield – Area

  • Bushels (BU)
    • Acres - 1
    • Hectares - 7
  • Kilograms (KG)
    • Acres - 2
    • Hectares - 8
  • Metric Tonnes (MT)
    • Acres - 3
    • Hectares - 9
  • Imperial Tons (IT)
    • Acres - 4
    • Hectares - 10
  • Pounds (LB)
    • Acres - 5
    • Hectares - 11
  • Hundred Weight (CWT)
    • Acres - 6
    • Hectares - 12
  • Total production
    • BU 19 - 1 (19)
    • MT 19 - 2 (21)
    • IT 19 - 3 (22)
    • KG 19 - 4 (20)
    • LB 19 - 5 (23)
    • CWT 19 - 6 (24)

Section D tame hay and forage seed

Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures

Include:

  • Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixed with varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude:

  • All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes, crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals and under-seeded areas.

Other Tame Hay

Include:

  • Varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude:

  • Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures, all forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes and crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals.

Forage Seed

Include:

  • All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for seed purposes such as alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude:

  • Forage crops harvested or to be harvested for hay or to be used for pasture.

1. Are you growing any Tame Hay or Forage Seed in 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to section E.)

2. Which crops do you have?

  • Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures (go to question 3.)
  • Other Tame Hay (go to question 11.)
  • Forage Seed (go to question 19.)

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

3. What is your total area of Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)
Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures

4. What area of your total area of Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures was harvested or is expected to be harvested this year? (Count different cuts of the same area only once.)
Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures

The following questions deal with alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures production.
Include:

  • First and all subsequent harvests from the same Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures area this year.

5. Did you cut any of your Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures as dry hay?

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 9.)

6. What yield or total production of Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures as dry hay did you or will you obtain? UOM (see table at the end of the section)

  • Total production of Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures as dry hay (if a value is entered, go to question 9, else go to question 7.)

7. Did you bale any of your Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures as dry hay?

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 8.)

Production of dry hay in the form of bales (include round and/or square)

  • Bale Type
  • Number of bales
  • Weight of bales
  • UOM (lb, kg)

8. Did you produce any other form of Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures as dry hay?

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 9.)

Other forms of production of dry hay (include forage wagons and hay stacks)

  • Other Form
  • Weight

Total production of Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures as dry hay (sum of questions 7+8)

9. Did you cut any of your Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures for silage?

  • Yes
  • No (go to the next crop in question 2. If this is the last crop, go to section E.)

10. What is the yield or total production of Alfalfa and Alfalfa mixtures for silage did you or will you obtain? UOM (see end of the section)

  • Total production for silage (if a value is entered, go to the next crop in question 2. If this is the last crop, go to section E.)

Other tame hay

11. What is your total area of all Other Tame Hay? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

  • Other Tame Hay

12. What area of your total area of all Other Tame Hay was harvested or is expected to be harvested this year? (Count different cuts of the same area only once.)

  • Other Tame Hay

The following questions deal with the production of other tame hay.
Include:  

  • First and all subsequent harvests from the same Other Tame Hay area this year.

13. Did you cut any of your Other Tame Hay as dry hay?

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 17.)

14. What yield or total production of Other Tame Hay as dry hay did you or will you obtain? UOM (see table at the end of the section)

  • Total production of Other Tame Hay as dry hay (if a value is entered, go to question 17, else go to question 15.)

15. Did you bale any of your Other Tame Hay as dry hay?

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 16.)

Production of dry hay in the form of bales (include round and/or square)

  • Bale Type
  • Number of bales
  • Weight of bales
  • UOM (lb, kg)

16. Did you produce any other form of your Other Tame Hay as dry hay?

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 17.)

Other forms of production of dry hay (include forage wagons and hay stacks)

  • Other Form
  • Weight
  • UOM (MT, IT, KG, LB)

(Go to question 17.)

Total production of Other Tame Hay as dry hay (sum of questions 15+16)

17. Did you cut any of your Other Tame Hay for silage?

  • Yes
  • No (go to the next crop in question 2. If this is the last crop, go to section E.)

18. What is the yield or total production of Other Tame Hay for silage did you or will you obtain?

  • Total production for silage
  • UOM (see end of the section)

(If a value is entered, go to the next crop in question 2. If this is the last crop, go to section E.)

Forage seed

19. What is your total area of Forage Seed? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

  • Forage Seed

20. Total Tame Hay and Forage Seed areas (sum of D3 + D11 + D19)

Unit of measure (UOM) – Section D

Yield – Area

  • Kilograms (KG)
    • Acres - 1
    • Hectares - 5
  • Metric Tonnes (MT)
    • Acres - 2
    • Hectares - 6
  • Imperial Tons (IT)
    • Acres - 3
    • Hectares - 7
  • Pounds (LB)
    • Acres - 4
    • Hectares - 8
  • Total production
    • MT 19 - 2 (21)
    • IT 19 - 3 (22)
    • KG 19 - 4 (20)
    • LB 19 - 5 (23)

Section E land balance

Summerfallow:

Land on which no crop will be grown during the year, but which may be cultivated or worked for weed control and/or moisture conservation, or it may simply be left to lay fallow in order to renew the soil.
Include:

  • Chemfallow: summerfallow where herbicides are used without working the soil;
  • Winterkilled land: winterkilled area from crops sown in the previous fall, which will not be reseeded or pastured to another crop;
  • Fall crop area ploughed under but not reseeded;
  • Idle land: improved land which was cropped, pastured or used for agricultural purposes last year, but is not being cropped this year.

Land for pasture or grazing:

All land which is being used for pasture, grazing, native pasture, native hay, rangeland and grazable bush used for the grazing or feeding of livestock.
Exclude:

  • Areas to be harvested as dry hay, silage or forage seed;
  • Community pastures, co-operative grazing associations or grazing reserves.

If a field is used the same year for harvesting Tame Hay and as a pasture, count it only once as a Tame Hay field.

Other Land:

  • Area of farmstead: farm buildings, farmyard, home garden and roads;
  • New broken land: land which has been cleared and prepared for cultivation but will not be cropped;
  • Wasteland, woodland, cut-over land, slough, swamp, marshland and irrigation ditches;
  • Fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, maple trees, Christmas trees and sod.

What is your total area of Summerfallow, Land for pasture or grazing and Other Land in 2009?

  1. Total area
  2. UOM (ac, ha)
  • Summerfallow
  • Land for pasture or grazing
  • Other Land
  • Total Land Balance (sum of E1 to E3)

Section F total land area

What is the Total Land Area in 2009?

  1. Total Land Area
  2. Sum of sections A3c + C2bb + D20 + E4
  3. Difference between F1 and F2 (F1-F2) If the difference is substantial, please explain in comments. 

Section G federal/provincial agreement to share information

1. Federal/provincial agreement to share information

Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia residents:

To avoid duplication of enquiry, this survey is conducted under a co-operative agreement to share information with your provincial department of agriculture in accordance with Section 12 of the Statistics Act. Any information shared with a provincial ministry of agriculture is released in aggregate form only. The provincial ministry of agriculture must guarantee the confidentiality of all shared data. Statistics Canada does not provide the respondent's name or address to any provincial ministry of agriculture.

Do you agree to share this information?

  • Yes
  • No

2. Request for survey results

  • Yes
  • No

3. Total interview time

Comments

Confidential when completed. This survey is conducted under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, c. S-19. Completion of this questionnaire is a legal requirement under the Statistics Act.

The purpose of this survey is to obtain information on the crops you have seeded or intend to seed this year as well as hay and pasture land.

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from publishing any statistics which would divulge information obtained from this survey that relates to any identifiable business, institution or individual without the previous written consent of that business, institution or individual. The data reported on this questionnaire will be treated in confidence, used for statistical purposes and published in aggregate form only. The confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act are not affected by either the Access to Information Act or any other Legislation.

Statistics Canada advises you that there could be a risk of disclosure of your information if you choose to return it by fax, e-mail or other electronic means. Upon receipt of your information, Statistics Canada will provide the level of protection required by the Statistics Act.

Review the information on the label. If any information is incorrect or missing, please make the necessary corrections in the boxes below.

  • Farm name (if applicable)
  • Family name
  • First name and initial
  • Number and street name
  • Postal code
  • City
  • Telephone
  • E-mail address (if applicable)
  • Partner's name (if applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Partner's name (is applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Corporation name (if applicable)

Section A - Grains in Storage

The following questions refer to grains in storage on your farm on March 31, 2009.

Include:

  • grains harvested in or prior to 2008;
  • grains owned by someone else but stored on your farm;
  • grains purchased for animal feed or seed.

Exclude:

  • brand name feeds that were purchased (feed rations);
  • grains that you own but are stored off your farm ( e.g. elevator, another farm, storage ticket, condominium storage).

Important: Any crops harvested as forage or green silage should not be included as "grains in storage".

1. Do you or will you have any grains in storage on your farm on July 31, 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section B)

2. Please indicate the expected quantity in storage on your farm on July 31, 2009, using the appropriate UOM for the following crops:

  1. Barley
  2. Canola
  3. Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
    3. What is the percent moisture content of the Corn for Grain in storage? (If Quebec respondent, go to question 4. Else, go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to Section B.)
  4. Dry Beans, Coloured, total
  5. Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
  6. Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
  7. Oats
  8. Rye (Spring and Fall)
  9. Soybeans
  10. Wheat, Spring (If Quebec respondent, go to question 6. Else, go to Section B.)
  11. Wheat, Winter (If Quebec respondent, go to question 6. Else, go to Section B.)

(go to Section B)

Quebec

Quebec respondents only

4. What percentage of your Corn for Grain in storage is intended for the commercial market?

5. What percentage of your Spring Wheat in storage is intended for human consumption?

6. What percentage of your Winter Wheat in storage is intended for human consumption?

(Go to the next crop. If this is the last criop, so to Section B.)

The following questions deal with all land operated.

Include:

  • Land rented from other operations and Crown or public land used for agricultural purposes.

Exclude:

  • Land rented to other operations.

Section B - Fall Rye and Winter Wheat

1. Did you seed any Fall Rye or Winter Wheat in the fall of 2008?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section C)

2. Which crops did you seed?

  • Fall rye
  • Winter wheat

(go to the next question)

3. Please indicate the area seeded and the area remaining to be harvested as grain, using the appropriate UOM .

  1. Fall Rye
  2. Winter Wheat
  3. Total remaining to harvest as grain area (sum of 3a to 3b)

(go to Section C)

Quebec

Quebec respondents only

4. What percentage of your Winter Wheat remaining to be harvested as grain, is intended for human consumption?

(go to Section C)

Section C - Seeding Intentions

1. Do you plan to seed any crops in 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section D)

2. Please indicate the area you plan to seed using the appropriate UOM for the following crops.

  1. Barley (include Winter Barley seeded in the fall of 2008)
  2. Barley (include Winter Barley seeded in the fall of 2008)
  3. Canola (include Winter Canola seeded in the fall of 2008)
  4. Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
  5. Dry Beans, Black (Black Turtle, Preto)
  6. Dry Beans, Cranberry (Romano)
  7. Dry Beans, Dark Red Kidney
  8. Dry Beans, Faba (Fava, Broad)
  9. Dry Beans, Great Northern
  10. Dry Beans, Light Red Kidney
  11. Dry Beans, Pinto
  12. Dry Beans, Small Red (Red Mexican)
  13. Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
  14. Dry Beans, Other and unknown
  15. Fodder Corn
  16. Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
  17. Oats
  18. Potatoes
  19. Soybeans
  20. Spring Rye
  21. Sugar Beets
  22. Tobacco
  23. Wheat, Spring (If Quebec respondent, go to Question 3. Else, go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to Section D.)
  24. Other Field Crops (list in comments)
  25. Total seeded area (sum of 2a to 2x)

(go to Section D)

Quebec

Quebec respondents only

3. What percentage of your Spring Wheat area is intended for human consumption?

(Go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to Section D.)

Section D - Tame Hay and Forage Seed

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

Include

  • Alfalfa and alfalfa mixed with varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude

  • All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes, crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals and under-seeded areas.

Other tame hay

Include

  • Varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude

  • Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, all forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes and crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals.

Forage seed

Include

  • All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for seed purposes such as alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude

  • Forage crops harvested or to be harvested for hay or to be used for pasture.

1. Will you have any Tame Hay or Forage Seed in 2009?

  • You
  • No (go to Section E)

2. Which crops will you have?

  • alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures (go to question 3)
  • other tame hay (go to question 4)
  • forage seed (go to question 5)

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

3. What will be your total area of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures? (exclude under-seeded areas.)

(Go to next crop. If this is last crop, go to question 6.)

Other tame hay

4. What will be your total area of all other tame hay? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

(Go to next crop. If this is last crop, go to question 6.)

Forage seed

5. What will be your total area of forage seed? (exclude under-seeded areas.)

(go to next question)

6. Total Tame Hay and Forage Seed areas (sum of D3 to D5)

  • unit of measure

(go to Section E)

Section E - Land Balance

Land for pasture or grazing: All land which is being used for pasture, grazing, native pasture, native hay, rangeland and grazable bush used for the grazing or feeding of livestock.

Exclude

  • Areas to be harvested as dry hay, silage or forage seed;
  • Community pastures, co-operative grazing associations or grazing reserves.

If a field is used the same year for harvesting Tame Hay and as a pasture, count it only once as a Tame Hay field.

Other land:

  • Area of farmstead: farm buildings, farmyard, home garden and roads;
  • Idle land: improved land which was cropped, pastured or used for agricultural purposes last year, but is not being cropped this year;
  • Fall crop area ploughed under but not reseeded;
  • New broken land: land which has been cleared and prepared for cultivation but will not be cropped;
  • Winterkilled land: winterkilled area from crops sown in the previous fall, which will not be reseeded or pastured to another crop;
  • Wasteland, woodland, cut-over land, slough, swamp, marshland and irrigation ditches;
  • Summerfallow land: land on which no crop will be grown during the year, but which may be cultivated or worked for weed control and/or moisture conservation, or it may simply be left to lay fallow in order to renew the soil;
  • Chemfallow: summerfallow where herbicides are used without working the soil;
  • Fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, maple trees, Christmas trees and sod.

What will be your total area of Land for pasture or grazing and Other Land in 2009, using the appropriate UOM ?

  1. Land for pasture or grazing
  2. Other Land
  3. Total Land Balance (sum of E1 to E2)

(go to Section F)

Section F - Total Land Area

What will be the Total Land Area in 2009?

  1. Total Land Area
  2. Sum of sections B3c + C2y + D6 + E3
  3. Difference between F1 and F2 (F1-F2)
    If the difference is substantial, please explain in comments.

(go to Section G)

Section G - Federal/Provincial Agreement to Share Information

1. Federal/provincial agreement to share information

Ontario and British Columbia residents:

  • To avoid duplication of enquiry, this survey is conducted under a co-operative agreement to share information with your provincial department of agriculture in accordance with Section 12 of the Statistics Act. Any information shared with a provincial ministry of agriculture is released in aggregate form only. The provincial ministry of agriculture must guarantee the confidentiality of all shared data. Statistics Canada does not provide the respondent's name or address to any provincial ministry of agriculture.

Do you agree to share this information?

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 2)

Quebec residents:

  • To avoid duplication of enquiry, this survey is conducted under a co-operative agreement to share information in accordance with Section 11 of the Statistics Act, with Statistics Canada and l'Institut de la statistique du Québec.

2. Request for survey results

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 3)

3. Total interview time

(end of survey)

Comments:

Confidential when completed. This survey is conducted under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, c. S-19. Completion of this questionnaire is a legal requirement under the Statistics Act.

The purpose of this survey is to obtain information on the crops you have seeded or intend to seed this year as well as hay and pasture land.

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from publishing any statistics which would divulge information obtained from this survey that relates to any identifiable business, institution or individual without the previous written consent of that business, institution or individual. The data reported on this questionnaire will be treated in confidence, used for statistical purposes and published in aggregate form only. The confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act are not affected by either the Access to Information Act or any other Legislation.

Statistics Canada advises you that there could be a risk of disclosure of your information if you choose to return it by fax, e-mail or other electronic means. Upon receipt of your information, Statistics Canada will provide the level of protection required by the Statistics Act.

Review the information on the label. If any information is incorrect or missing, please make the necessary corrections in the boxes below.

  • Farm name (if applicable)
  • Family name
  • First name and initial
  • Number and street name
  • Postal code
  • City
  • Telephone
  • E-mail address (if applicable)
  • Partner's name (if applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Partner's name (is applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Corporation name (if applicable)

Section A - Gains in Storage

The following questions refer to grains in storage on your farm on July 31, 2009.

Include

  • grains harvested in or prior to 2008;
  • grains owned by someone else but stored on your farm;
  • grains purchased for animal feed or seed.

Exclude

  • brand name feeds that were purchased (feed rations);
  • grains that you own but are stored off your farm ( e.g. elevator, another farm, storage ticket, condominium storage).

Important: Any crops harvested as forage or green silage should not be included as "grains in storage".

1. Will you have any grains in storage on your farm on July 31, 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section B)

2. Please indicate the expected quantity in storage on your farm on July 31, 2009, using the appropriate UOM for the following crops.

  • Barley
  • Canary Seed
  • Canola
  • Chick Peas
  • Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
  • Dry Beans, Coloured, total
  • Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
  • Dry Field Peas
  • Flaxseed
  • Lentils
  • Linola (solin)
  • Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
  • Mustard Seed
  • Oats
  • Rye (Spring and Fall)
  • Soybeans
  • Sunflower Seeds (include Sunola & other dwarf varieties)
  • Wheat, Durum
  • Wheat, Winter
  • Wheat Spring, Canadian Western Extra Strong (utility)
  • Wheat Spring, Hard Red
  • Wheat Spring, Prairie (include semi-dwarf varieties but exclude Soft White Spring Wheat)
  • Wheat Spring, Soft White (exclude White Prairie Spring Wheat)
  • Wheat Spring, Other (unlicensed varieties, including Grandin Wheat)

(go to Section B)

The following questions deal with all land operated.

Include

  • Land rented from other operations and Crown or public land used for agricultural purposes.

Exclude

  • Land rented to other operations.

Section B - Fall Rye and Winter Wheat

1. Did you seed any Fall Rye or Winter Wheat in the fall of 2008?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section C)

2. Which crops did you seed?

  • Fall rye
  • Winter wheat

(go to next question)

3. Please indicate the area seeded and the area remaining to be harvested as grain, using the appropriate UOM .

  1. Fall Rye
  2. Winter Wheat
  3. Total remaining to harvest as grain area (sum of 3a to 3b)

(go to Section C)

Section C - Seeding Intentions

1. Do you plan to seed any crops in 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section D)

2. Please indicate the area you plan to seed using the appropriate UOM for the following crops.

  1. Barley
  2. Borage Seed
  3. Buckwheat
  4. Canary Seed, Hairless (Canario)
  5. Canary Seed, Regular
  6. Canola
  7. Caraway Seed
  8. Chick Peas, Desi
  9. Chick Peas, Kabuli
  10. Chick Peas, Other and unknown
  11. Coriander Seed
  12. Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
  13. Dry Beans, Black (Black Turtle, Preto)
  14. Dry Beans, Cranberry (Romano)
  15. Dry Beans, Dark Red Kidney
  16. Dry Beans, Faba (Fava, Broad)
  17. Dry Beans, Great Northern
  18. Dry Beans, Light Red Kidney
  19. Dry Beans, Pinto
  20. Dry Beans, Small Red (Red Mexican)
  21. Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
  22. Dry Beans, Other and unknown
  23. Dry Field Peas - Green
  24. Dry Field Peas - Yellow
  25. Dry Field Peas - Other and unknown
  26. Flaxseed
  27. Fodder Corn
  28. Lentils - Large green
  29. Lentils - Red
  30. Lentils - Small green
  31. Lentils - Other and unknown
  32. Linola (solin)
  33. Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
  34. Mustard Seed - Brown
  35. Mustard Seed - Oriental
  36. Mustard Seed - Yellow
  37. Mustard Seed - Other and unknown
  38. Oats
  39. Potatoes
  40. Safflower
  41. Soybeans
  42. Spring Rye
  43. Sugar Beets
  44. Sunflower Seeds (include Sunola & other dwarf varieties)
  45. Triticale
  46. Wheat, Durum
  47. Wheat Spring, Canadian Western Extra Strong (utility)
  48. Wheat Spring, Hard Red
  49. Wheat Spring, Red Prairie (semi-dwarf varieties)
  50. Wheat Spring, White Prairie (include semi-dwarf varieties but exclude Soft White Spring Wheat)
  51. Wheat Spring, Soft White (exclude White Prairie Spring Wheat)
  52. Wheat Spring, Other (unlicensed varieties, including Grandin Wheat)
  53. Other Field Crops (list in comments)
  54. Total seeded area (sum of 2a to 2ba)

(go to Section D)

Section D - Tame Hay and Forage Seed

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

Include - Alfalfa and alfalfa mixed with varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes, crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals and under-seeded areas.

Other tame hay

Include - Varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, all forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes and crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals.

Forage seed

Include - All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for seed purposes such as alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - Forage crops harvested or to be harvested for hay or to be used for pasture.

1. Will you have any Tame Hay or Forage Seed in 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section E)

2. Which crops will you have?

  • Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures (go to question 3)
  • other tame hay (go to question 4)
  • forage seed (go to question 5)

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

3. What will be your total area of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

  • Total area and unit of measure

(Go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to question 6)

Other tame hay

4. What will be your total area of all Other Tame Hay? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

  • Total area and unit of measure

(Go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to question 6)

Forage seed

5. What will be your total area of Forage Seed? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

  • Total area and unit of measure

(Go to the next question)

6. Total Tame Hay and Forage Seed areas (sum of C3 to C5)

  • UOM ( ac , ha , arp )

(go to Section E)

Section E - Land Balance

Summerfallow: Land on which no crop will be grown during the year, but which may be cultivated or worked for weed control and/or moisture conservation, or it may simply be left to lay fallow in order to renew the soil.

Include

  • Chemfallow: summerfallow where herbicides are used without working the soil;
  • Winterkilled land: winterkilled area from crops sown in the previous fall, which will not be reseeded or pastured to another crop;
  • Fall crop area ploughed under but not reseeded;
  • Idle land: improved land which was cropped, pastured or used for agricultural purposes last year, but is not being cropped this year.

Land for pasture or grazing: All land which is being used for pasture, grazing, native pasture, native hay, rangeland and grazable bush used for the grazing or feeding of livestock.

Exclude

  • Areas to be harvested as dry hay, silage or forage seed;
  • Community pastures, co-operative grazing associations or grazing reserves.

If a field is used the same year for harvesting Tame Hay and as a pasture, count it only once as a Tame Hay field.

Other Land:

  • Area of farmstead: farm buildings, farmyard, home garden and roads;
  • New broken land: land which has been cleared and prepared for cultivation but will not be cropped;
  • Wasteland, woodland, cut-over land, slough, swamp, marshland and irrigation ditches;
  • Fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, maple trees, Christmas trees and sod.

What is your total area of Summerfallow, Land for pasture or grazing and Other Land in 2009, using the appropriate UOM ?

  1. Summerfallow
  2. Land for pasture or grazing
  3. Other Land
  4. Total Land Balance (sum of E1 to E3)

(go to Section F)

Section F - Total Land Area

What will be the Total Land Area in 2009, using the appropriate UOM ?

  1. Total Land Area
  2. Sum of sections B3c + C2bb + D6 + E4
  3. Difference between F1 and F2 (F1-F2) If the difference is substantial, please explain in comments.

(go to Section G)

Section G - Federal/Provincial Agreement to Share Information

1. Federal/provincial agreement to share information

Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia residents:

To avoid duplication of enquiry, this survey is conducted under a co-operative agreement to share information with your provincial department of agriculture in accordance with Section 12 of the Statistics Act. Any information shared with a provincial ministry of agriculture is released in aggregate form only. The provincial ministry of agriculture must guarantee the confidentiality of all shared data. Statistics Canada does not provide the respondent's name or address to any provincial ministry of agriculture.

Do you agree to share this information?

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 2)

2. Request for survey results

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 3)

3. Total interview time

  • Time (end of survey)

Comments:

Confidential when completed. This survey is conducted under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, c. S-19. Completion of this questionnaire is a legal requirement under the Statistics Act.

The purpose of this survey is to obtain information on the crops you have seeded or intend to seed this year as well as hay and pasture land.

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from publishing any statistics which would divulge information obtained from this survey that relates to any identifiable business, institution or individual without the previous written consent of that business, institution or individual. The data reported on this questionnaire will be treated in confidence, used for statistical purposes and published in aggregate form only. The confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act are not affected by either the Access to Information Act or any other Legislation.

Statistics Canada advises you that there could be a risk of disclosure of your information if you choose to return it by fax, e-mail or other electronic means. Upon receipt of your information, Statistics Canada will provide the level of protection required by the Statistics Act.

Review the information on the label. If any information is incorrect or missing, please make the necessary corrections in the boxes below.

  • Farm name (if applicable)
  • Family name
  • First name and initial
  • Number and street name
  • Postal code
  • City
  • Telephone
  • E-mail address (if applicable)
  • Partner's name (if applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Partner's name (is applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Corporation name (if applicable)

The following questions deal with all land operated.

Include - Land rented from other operations and Crown or public land used for agricultural purposes.

Exclude - Land rented to other operations.

Section A - Fall Rye and Winter Wheat

1. Did you seed any Fall Rye or Winter Wheat in the fall of 2008?

  • Yes
  • No (go to section B)

2. Which crops did you seed?

  • Fall Rye
  • Winter Wheat

3. Please indicate the area seeded and the area remaining to be harvested as grain using the appropriate UOM .

  1. Fall Rye
  2. Winter Wheat (If Quebec respondent, go to Question 4. Else, go to Section B.)
  3. Total remaining to harvest as grain area (sum of 3a to 3b)

Quebec

Quebec respondents only

4. What percentage of your Winter Wheat remaining to be harvested as grain, is intended for human consumption?

(go to Section B)

Section B - Seeded Area

1. Did you or will you seed any crops in 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section C)

2. Please indicate what is or will be your seeded area using the appropriate UOM for the following crops.

  1. Barley (include Winter Barley seeded in the fall of 2008)
  2. Buckwheat
  3. Canola (include Winter Canola seeded in the fall of 2008)
  4. Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn) (Go to Question 5.)
  5. Dry Beans, Black (Black Turtle, Preto)
  6. Dry Beans, Cranberry (Romano)
  7. Dry Beans, Dark Red Kidney
  8. Dry Beans, Faba (Fava, Broad)
  9. Dry Beans, Great Northern
  10. Dry Beans, Light Red Kidney
  11. Dry Beans, Pinto
  12. Dry Beans, Small Red (Red Mexican)
  13. Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
  14. Dry Beans, Other and unknown
  15. Fodder Corn
  16. Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
  17. Oats
  18. Potatoes
  19. Soybeans (Go to Question 6.)
  20. Spring Rye
  21. Sugar Beets
  22. Tobacco
  23. Wheat, Spring (If Quebec respondent, go to Question 4. Else, go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to Question 3.)
  24. Other Field Crops (list in comments)
  25. Total seeded area (sum of 2a to 2x)

(go to the next question)

3. Of the total area to be seeded to field crops this spring, what percentagehave you seeded at this time?

Quebec

Quebec respondents only

4. What percentage of your Spring Wheat area is intended forhuman consumption?

Section B - Corn for Grain and Soybeans (continued)

Definitions:

Transgenic: A plant or animal containing one or more new genes introduced by genetic engineering.
Terminator gene: A gene that renders seeds sterile.
Genetically modified seed: A seed whose genetic information has been recently altered by genetic engineering or mutagenesis.
Genetic engineering: A technique involving the transfer of specific genetic information from one organism to another.
Mutagenesis: A process by which the genetic information of an organism is changed in a stable, heritable manner, via the use of chemicals or radiation.
Biotechnology: The application of science and engineering in the use of living organisms.

Other terms used for genetically modified seed:

Soybeans: Roundup Ready
Corn for Grain: Liberty Link, Roundup Ready, H T H,Bt Corn (YieldGard, KnockOut, NatureGuard, Xtra, StarLink and Herculex)

5. Of your acres/hectares/arpents of Corn for Grain reported on page 3, how many areseeded or will be seeded with genetically modified seed?(Exclude varieties produced by traditional cross-breedingtechniques.)

(Go to the next crop on page 3. If this is the last crop, go to question B3.)

6. Of your acres/hectares/arpents of Soybeans reported on page 3, how many are seededor will be seeded with genetically modified seed? (Exclude varieties produced by traditional cross-breeding techniques.)

(Go to the next crop on page 3. If this is the last crop, go to question B3.)

Section C - Tame Hay and Forage Seed

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

Include - Alfalfa and alfalfa mixed with varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes, crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals and under-seeded areas.

Other tame hay

Include - Varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, all forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes and crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals.

Forage seed

Include - All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for seed purposes such as alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - Forage crops harvested or to be harvested for hay or to be used for pasture.

1. Will you have any Tame Hay or Forage Seed in 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to section D)

2. Which crops will you have?

  • Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures (go to question 3.)
  • other tame hay (go to question 4.)
  • forage seed (go to question 5.)

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

3. What will be your total area of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

Other tame hay

4. What will be your total area of all other tame hay? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

Forage seed

5. What will be your total area of forage seed? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

6. Total tame hay and forage seed areas (sum of C3 to C5)

  • UOM ( ac , ha , arp )

Section D - Land Balance

Land for pasture or grazing:

All land which is being used for pasture, grazing, native pasture, native hay, rangeland and grazable bush used for the grazing or feeding of livestock. Exclude:

  • Areas to be harvested as dry hay, silage or forage seed;
  • Community pastures, co-operative grazing associations or grazing reserves

If a field is used the same year for harvesting Tame Hay and as a pasture, count it only once as a Tame Hay field.

Other Land:

  • Area of farmstead: farm buildings, farmyard, home garden and roads;
  • Idle land: improved land which was cropped, pastured or used for agricultural purposes last year, but is not being cropped this year;
  • Fall crop area ploughed under but not reseeded;
  • New broken land: land which has been cleared and prepared for cultivation but will not be cropped;
  • Winterkilled land: winterkilled area from crops sown in the previous fall, which will not be reseeded or pastured to another crop;
  • Wasteland, woodland, cut-over land, slough, swamp, marshland and irrigation ditches;
  • Summerfallow land: land on which no crop will be grown during the year, but which may be cultivated or worked for weed control and/or
    moisture conservation, or it may simply be left to lay fallow in order to renew the soil;
  • Chemfallow: summerfallow where herbicides are used without working the soil;
  • Fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, maple trees, Christmas trees and sod.

What is your total area of land for pasture or grazing and other land in 2009, using the appropriate UOM ?

  1. Land for pasture or grazing
  2. Other Land
  3. Total Land Balance (sum of D1 to D2)

(go to Section E)

Section E - Total Land Area

What will be the Total Land Area in 2009, using the appropriate UOM ?

  1. Total Land Area
  2. Sum of sections A3c + B2y + C6 + D3
  3. Difference between E1 and E2 (E1-E2)
    If the difference is substantial, please explain in comments.

(go to Section F)

Section F - Federal/Provincial Agreement to Share Information

1. Federal/provincial agreement to share information

Ontario and British Columbia residents:

To avoid duplication of enquiry, this survey is conducted under a co-operative agreement to share information with your provincial department of agriculture in accordance with Section 12 of the Statistics Act. Any information shared with a provincial ministry of agriculture is released in aggregate form only. The provincial ministry of agriculture must guarantee the confidentiality of all shared data. Statistics Canada does not provide the respondent's name or address to any provincial ministry of agriculture.

Do you agree to share this information?

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 2.)

Quebec residents:

To avoid duplication of enquiry, this survey is conducted under a co-operative agreement to share information in accordance with Section 11 of the Statistics Act, with Statistics Canada and l'Institut de la statistique du Québec.

2. Request for survey results

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 3.)

3. Total interview time

  • Time (end of survey)

Comments:

Confidential when completed. This survey is conducted under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, c. S-19. Completion of this questionnaire is a legal requirement under the Statistics Act.

The purpose of this survey is to obtain information on the crops you have seeded or intend to seed this year as well as hay and pasture land.

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from publishing any statistics which would divulge information obtained from this survey that relates to any identifiable business, institution or individual without the previous written consent of that business, institution or individual. The data reported on this questionnaire will be treated in confidence, used for statistical purposes and published in aggregate form only. The confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act are not affected by either the Access to Information Act or any other Legislation.

Statistics Canada advises you that there could be a risk of disclosure of your information if you choose to return it by fax, e-mail or other electronic means. Upon receipt of your information, Statistics Canada will provide the level of protection required by the Statistics Act.

Review the information on the label. If any information is incorrect or missing, please make the necessary corrections in the boxes below.

  • Farm name (if applicable)
  • Family name
  • First name and initial
  • Number and street name
  • Postal code
  • City
  • Telephone
  • E-mail address (if applicable)
  • Partner's name (if applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Partner's name (is applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Corporation name (if applicable)

The following questions deal with all land operated.

Include - Land rented from other operations and Crown or public land used for agricultural purposes.

Exclude - Land rented to other operations.

Section A - Fall Rye and Winter Wheat

1. Did you seed any Fall Rye or Winter Wheat in the fall of 2008?

  • Yes
  • No (go to section B)

2. Which crops did you seed?

  • Fall Rye
  • Winter Wheat

3. Please indicate the area seeded and the area remaining to be harvested as grain using the appropriate UOM .

  1. Fall Rye
  2. Winter Wheat
  3. Total remaining to harvest as grain area (sum of 3a to 3b)

Section B - Seeded Area

1. Did you or will you seed any crops in 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section C)

2. Please indicate what is or will be your seeded area using the appropriate UOM for the following crops.

  1. Barley
  2. Borage Seed
  3. Buckwheat
  4. Canary Seed, Hairless (Canario)
  5. Canary Seed, Regular
  6. Canola
  7. Caraway Seed
  8. Chick Peas, Desi
  9. Chick Peas, Kabuli
  10. Chick Peas, Other and unknown
  11. Coriander Seed
  12. Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
  13. Dry Beans, Black (Black Turtle, Preto)
  14. Dry Beans, Cranberry (Romano)
  15. Dry Beans, Dark Red Kidney
  16. Dry Beans, Faba (Fava, Broad)
  17. Dry Beans, Great Northern
  18. Dry Beans, Light Red Kidney
  19. Dry Beans, Pinto
  20. Dry Beans, Small Red (Red Mexican)
  21. Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
  22. Dry Beans, Other and unknown
  23. Dry Field Peas - Green
  24. Dry Field Peas - Yellow
  25. Dry Field Peas - Other and unknown
  26. Flaxseed
  27. Fodder Corn
  28. Lentils - Large green
  29. Lentils - Red
  30. Lentils - Small green
  31. Lentils - Other and unknown
  32. Linola (solin)
  33. Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
  34. Mustard Seed - Brown
  35. Mustard Seed - Oriental
  36. Mustard Seed - Yellow
  37. Mustard Seed - Other and unknown
  38. Oats
  39. Potatoes
  40. Safflower
  41. Soybeans
  42. Spring Rye
  43. Sugar Beets
  44. Sunflower Seeds (include Sunola & other dwarf varieties)
  45. Triticale
  46. Wheat, Durum
  47. Wheat Spring, Canadian Western Extra Strong (utility)
  48. Wheat Spring, Hard Red
  49. Wheat Spring, Red Prairie (semi-dwarf varieties)
  50. Wheat Spring, White Prairie (include semi-dwarf varieties but exclude Soft White Spring Wheat)
  51. Wheat Spring, Soft White (exclude White Prairie Spring Wheat)
  52. Wheat Spring, Other (unlicensed varieties, including Grandin Wheat)
  53. Other Field Crops (list in comments)
  54. Total seeded area (sum of 2a to 2ba)

(go to the next question)

3. Of the total area to be seeded to field crops this spring, what percentage have you seeded at this time?

Section C - Tame Hay and Forage Seed

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

Include - Alfalfa and alfalfa mixed with varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes, crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals and under-seeded areas.

Other tame hay

Include - Varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, all forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes and crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals.

Forage seed

Include - All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for seed purposes such as alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - Forage crops harvested or to be harvested for hay or to be used for pasture.

1. Will you have any Tame Hay or Forage Seed in 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to section D)

2. Which crops will you have?

  • Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures (go to question 3.)
  • other tame hay (go to question 4.)
  • forage seed (go to question 5.)

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

3. What will be your total area of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

  • Total area and unit of measure

Other tame hay

4. What will be your total area of all other tame hay? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

  • Total area and unit of measure

Forage seed

5. What will be your total area of forage seed? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

  • Total area and unit of measure

6. Total Tame Hay and Forage Seed areas (sum of C3 to C5)

  • UOM ( ac , ha , arp )

Section D - Land Balance

Summerfallow: Land on which no crop will be grown during the year, but which may be cultivated or worked for weed control and/or moisture conservation, or it may simply be left to lay fallow in order to renew the soil.

Include

  • Chemfallow: summerfallow where herbicides are used without working the soil;
  • Winterkilled land: winterkilled area from crops sown in the previous fall, which will not be reseeded or pastured to another crop;
  • Fall crop area ploughed under but not reseeded;
  • Idle land: improved land which was cropped, pastured or used for agricultural purposes last year, but is not being cropped this year.

Land for pasture or grazing: All land which is being used for pasture, grazing, native pasture, native hay, rangeland and grazable bush used for the grazing or feeding of livestock.

Exclude

  • Areas to be harvested as dry hay, silage or forage seed;
  • Community pastures, co-operative grazing associations or grazing reserves.

If a field is used the same year for harvesting Tame Hay and as a pasture, count it only once as a Tame Hay field.

Other Land:

  • Area of farmstead: farm buildings, farmyard, home garden and roads;
  • New broken land: land which has been cleared and prepared for cultivation but will not be cropped;
  • Wasteland, woodland, cut-over land, slough, swamp, marshland and irrigation ditches;
  • Fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, maple trees, Christmas trees and sod.

What is your total area of Summerfallow, Land for pasture or grazing and Other Land in 2009, using the appropriate UOM ?

  1. Summerfallow
  2. Land for pasture or grazing
  3. Other Land
  4. Total Land Balance (sum of D1 to D3)

(go to Section E)

Section E - Total Land Area

What will be the Total Land Area in 2009 using the appropriate UOM ?

  1. Total Land Area
  2. Sum of sections A3c + B2bb + C6 + D4
  3. Difference between E1 and E2 (E1-E2)
    If the difference is substantial, please explain in comments.

(go to Section F)

Section F - Federal/Provincial Agreement to Share Information

1. Federal/provincial agreement to share information

Manitob, Saskatchewan and British Columbia residents:

To avoid duplication of enquiry, this survey is conducted under a co-operative agreement to share information with your provincial department of agriculture in accordance with Section 12 of the Statistics Act. Any information shared with a provincial ministry of agriculture is released in aggregate form only. The provincial ministry of agriculture must guarantee the confidentiality of all shared data. Statistics Canada does not provide the respondent's name or address to any provincial ministry of agriculture.

Do you agree to share this information?

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 2.)

2. Request for survey results

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 3.)

3. Total interview time

  • Time (end of survey)

Comments:

Confidential when completed. This survey is conducted under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, c. S-19. Completion of this questionnaire is a legal requirement under the Statistics Act.

The purpose of this survey is to obtain information on the crops you have seeded or intend to seed this year as well as hay and pasture land.

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from publishing any statistics which would divulge information obtained from this survey that relates to any identifiable business, institution or individual without the previous written consent of that business, institution or individual. The data reported on this questionnaire will be treated in confidence, used for statistical purposes and published in aggregate form only. The confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act are not affected by either the Access to Information Act or any other Legislation.

Statistics Canada advises you that there could be a risk of disclosure of your information if you choose to return it by fax, e-mail or other electronic means. Upon receipt of your information, Statistics Canada will provide the level of protection required by the Statistics Act.

Review the information on the label. If any information is incorrect or missing, please make the necessary corrections in the boxes below.

  • Farm name (if applicable)
  • Family name
  • First name and initial
  • Number and street name
  • Postal code
  • City
  • Telephone
  • E-mail address (if applicable)
  • Partner's name (if applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Partner's name (is applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Corporation name (if applicable)

Section A - Grains in Storage

The following questions refer to grains in storage on your farm on March 31, 2009.

Include:

  • grains harvested in or prior to 2008;
  • grains owned by someone else but stored on your farm;
  • grains purchased for animal feed or seed.

Exclude:

  • brand name feeds that were purchased (feed rations);
  • grains that you own but are stored off your farm ( e.g. elevator, another farm, storage ticket, condominium storage).

Important: Any crops harvested as forage or green silage should not be included as "grains in storage".

1. Will you have any grains in storage on your farm on March 31, 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section B)

2. Please indicate the expected quantity in storage on your farm on March 31, 2009, using the appropriate UOM for the following crops:

  1. Barley
  2. Canola
  3. Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
    3. What is the percent moisture content of the Corn for Grain in storage? (If Quebec respondent, go to question 4. Else, go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to Section B.)
  4. Dry Beans, Coloured, total
  5. Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
  6. Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
  7. Oats
  8. Rye (Spring and Fall)
  9. Soybeans
  10. Wheat, Spring (If Quebec respondent, go to question 6. Else, go to Section B.)
  11. Wheat, Winter (If Quebec respondent, go to question 6. Else, go to Section B.)

(go to Section B)

Quebec

Quebec respondents only

4. What percentage of your Corn for Grain in storage is intended for the commercial market?

5. What percentage of your Spring Wheat in storage is intended for human consumption?

6. What percentage of your Winter Wheat in storage is intended for human consumption?

(Go to the next crop. If this is the last criop, so to Section B.)

The following questions deal with all land operated.

Include:

  • Land rented from other operations and Crown or public land used for agricultural purposes.

Exclude:

  • Land rented to other operations.

Section B - Fall Rye and Winter Wheat

1. Did you seed any Fall Rye or Winter Wheat in the fall of 2008?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section C)

2. Which crops did you seed?

  • Fall rye
  • Winter wheat

(go to the next question)

3. Please indicate the area seeded and the area remaining to be harvested as grain, using the appropriate UOM .

  1. Fall Rye
  2. Winter Wheat
  3. Total remaining to harvest as grain area (sum of 3a to 3b)

(go to Section C)

Quebec

Quebec respondents only

4. What percentage of your Winter Wheat remaining to be harvested as grain, is intended for human consumption?

(go to Section C)

Section C - Seeding Intentions

1. Do you plan to seed any crops in 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section D)

2. Please indicate the area you plan to seed using the appropriate UOM for the following crops.

  1. Barley (include Winter Barley seeded in the fall of 2008)
  2. Barley (include Winter Barley seeded in the fall of 2008)
  3. Canola (include Winter Canola seeded in the fall of 2008)
  4. Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
  5. Dry Beans, Black (Black Turtle, Preto)
  6. Dry Beans, Cranberry (Romano)
  7. Dry Beans, Dark Red Kidney
  8. Dry Beans, Faba (Fava, Broad)
  9. Dry Beans, Great Northern
  10. Dry Beans, Light Red Kidney
  11. Dry Beans, Pinto
  12. Dry Beans, Small Red (Red Mexican)
  13. Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
  14. Dry Beans, Other and unknown
  15. Fodder Corn
  16. Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
  17. Oats
  18. Potatoes
  19. Soybeans
  20. Spring Rye
  21. Sugar Beets
  22. Tobacco
  23. Wheat, Spring (If Quebec respondent, go to Question 3. Else, go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to Section D.)
  24. Other Field Crops (list in comments)
  25. Total seeded area (sum of 2a to 2x)

(go to Section D)

Quebec

Quebec respondents only

3. What percentage of your Spring Wheat area is intended for human consumption?

(Go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to Section D.)

Section D - Tame Hay and Forage Seed

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

Include

  • Alfalfa and alfalfa mixed with varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude

  • All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes, crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals and under-seeded areas.

Other tame hay

Include

  • Varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude

  • Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, all forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes and crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals.

Forage seed

Include

  • All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for seed purposes such as alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude

  • Forage crops harvested or to be harvested for hay or to be used for pasture.

1. Will you have any Tame Hay or Forage Seed in 2009?

  • You
  • No (go to Section E)

2. Which crops will you have?

  • alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures (go to question 3)
  • other tame hay (go to question 4)
  • forage seed (go to question 5)

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

3. What will be your total area of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures? (exclude under-seeded areas.)

(Go to next crop. If this is last crop, go to question 6.)

Other tame hay

4. What will be your total area of all other tame hay? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

(Go to next crop. If this is last crop, go to question 6.)

Forage seed

5. What will be your total area of forage seed? (exclude under-seeded areas.)

(go to next question)

6. Total Tame Hay and Forage Seed areas (sum of D3 to D5)

  • unit of measure

(go to Section E)

Section E - Land Balance

Land for pasture or grazing: All land which is being used for pasture, grazing, native pasture, native hay, rangeland and grazable bush used for the grazing or feeding of livestock.

Exclude

  • Areas to be harvested as dry hay, silage or forage seed;
  • Community pastures, co-operative grazing associations or grazing reserves.

If a field is used the same year for harvesting Tame Hay and as a pasture, count it only once as a Tame Hay field.

Other land:

  • Area of farmstead: farm buildings, farmyard, home garden and roads;
  • Idle land: improved land which was cropped, pastured or used for agricultural purposes last year, but is not being cropped this year;
  • Fall crop area ploughed under but not reseeded;
  • New broken land: land which has been cleared and prepared for cultivation but will not be cropped;
  • Winterkilled land: winterkilled area from crops sown in the previous fall, which will not be reseeded or pastured to another crop;
  • Wasteland, woodland, cut-over land, slough, swamp, marshland and irrigation ditches;
  • Summerfallow land: land on which no crop will be grown during the year, but which may be cultivated or worked for weed control and/or moisture conservation, or it may simply be left to lay fallow in order to renew the soil;
  • Chemfallow: summerfallow where herbicides are used without working the soil;
  • Fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, maple trees, Christmas trees and sod.

What will be your total area of Land for pasture or grazing and Other Land in 2009, using the appropriate UOM ?

  1. Land for pasture or grazing
  2. Other Land
  3. Total Land Balance (sum of E1 to E2)

(go to Section F)

Section F - Total Land Area

What will be the Total Land Area in 2009?

  1. Total Land Area
  2. Sum of sections B3c + C2y + D6 + E3
  3. Difference between F1 and F2 (F1-F2)
    If the difference is substantial, please explain in comments.

(go to Section G)

Section G - Federal/Provincial Agreement to Share Information

1. Federal/provincial agreement to share information

Ontario and British Columbia residents:

  • To avoid duplication of enquiry, this survey is conducted under a co-operative agreement to share information with your provincial department of agriculture in accordance with Section 12 of the Statistics Act. Any information shared with a provincial ministry of agriculture is released in aggregate form only. The provincial ministry of agriculture must guarantee the confidentiality of all shared data. Statistics Canada does not provide the respondent's name or address to any provincial ministry of agriculture.

Do you agree to share this information?

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 2)

Quebec residents:

  • To avoid duplication of enquiry, this survey is conducted under a co-operative agreement to share information in accordance with Section 11 of the Statistics Act, with Statistics Canada and l'Institut de la statistique du Québec.

2. Request for survey results

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 3)

3. Total interview time

(end of survey)

Comments:

Confidential when completed. This survey is conducted under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, c. S-19. Completion of this questionnaire is a legal requirement under the Statistics Act.

The purpose of this survey is to obtain information on the crops you have seeded or intend to seed this year as well as hay and pasture land.

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from publishing any statistics which would divulge information obtained from this survey that relates to any identifiable business, institution or individual without the previous written consent of that business, institution or individual. The data reported on this questionnaire will be treated in confidence, used for statistical purposes and published in aggregate form only. The confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act are not affected by either the Access to Information Act or any other Legislation.

Statistics Canada advises you that there could be a risk of disclosure of your information if you choose to return it by fax, e-mail or other electronic means. Upon receipt of your information, Statistics Canada will provide the level of protection required by the Statistics Act.

Review the information on the label. If any information is incorrect or missing, please make the necessary corrections in the boxes below.

  • Farm name (if applicable)
  • Family name
  • First name and initial
  • Number and street name
  • Postal code
  • City
  • Telephone
  • E-mail address (if applicable)
  • Partner's name (if applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Partner's name (is applicable)
  • Telephone
  • Corporation name (if applicable)

Section A - Gains in Storage

The following questions refer to grains in storage on your farm on March 31, 2009.

Include

  • grains harvested in or prior to 2008;
  • grains owned by someone else but stored on your farm;
  • grains purchased for animal feed or seed.

Exclude

  • brand name feeds that were purchased (feed rations);
  • grains that you own but are stored off your farm ( e.g. elevator, another farm, storage ticket, condominium storage).

Important: Any crops harvested as forage or green silage should not be included as "grains in storage".

1. Will you have any grains in storage on your farm on March 31, 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section B)

2. Please indicate the expected quantity in storage on your farm on March 31, 2009, using the appropriate UOM for the following crops.

  • Barley
  • Canary Seed
  • Canola
  • Chick Peas
  • Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
  • Dry Beans, Coloured, total
  • Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
  • Dry Field Peas
  • Flaxseed
  • Lentils
  • Linola (solin)
  • Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
  • Mustard Seed
  • Oats
  • Rye (Spring and Fall)
  • Soybeans
  • Sunflower Seeds (include Sunola & other dwarf varieties)
  • Wheat, Durum
  • Wheat, Winter
  • Wheat Spring, Canadian Western Extra Strong (utility)
  • Wheat Spring, Hard Red
  • Wheat Spring, Prairie (include semi-dwarf varieties but exclude Soft White Spring Wheat)
  • Wheat Spring, Soft White (exclude White Prairie Spring Wheat)
  • Wheat Spring, Other (unlicensed varieties, including Grandin Wheat)

(go to Section B)

The following questions deal with all land operated.

Include

  • Land rented from other operations and Crown or public land used for agricultural purposes.

Exclude

  • Land rented to other operations.

Section B - Fall Rye and Winter Wheat

1. Did you seed any Fall Rye or Winter Wheat in the fall of 2008?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section C)

2. Which crops did you seed?

  • Fall rye
  • Winter wheat

(go to next question)

3. Please indicate the area seeded and the area remaining to be harvested as grain, using the appropriate UOM .

  1. Fall Rye
  2. Winter Wheat
  3. Total remaining to harvest as grain area (sum of 3a to 3b)

(go to Section C)

Section C - Seeding Intentions

1. Do you plan to seed any crops in 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section D)

2. Please indicate the area you plan to seed using the appropriate UOM for the following crops.

  1. Barley
  2. Borage Seed
  3. Buckwheat
  4. Canary Seed, Hairless (Canario)
  5. Canary Seed, Regular
  6. Canola
  7. Caraway Seed
  8. Chick Peas, Desi
  9. Chick Peas, Kabuli
  10. Chick Peas, Other and unknown
  11. Coriander Seed
  12. Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
  13. Dry Beans, Black (Black Turtle, Preto)
  14. Dry Beans, Cranberry (Romano)
  15. Dry Beans, Dark Red Kidney
  16. Dry Beans, Faba (Fava, Broad)
  17. Dry Beans, Great Northern
  18. Dry Beans, Light Red Kidney
  19. Dry Beans, Pinto
  20. Dry Beans, Small Red (Red Mexican)
  21. Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
  22. Dry Beans, Other and unknown
  23. Dry Field Peas - Green
  24. Dry Field Peas - Yellow
  25. Dry Field Peas - Other and unknown
  26. Flaxseed
  27. Fodder Corn
  28. Lentils - Large green
  29. Lentils - Red
  30. Lentils - Small green
  31. Lentils - Other and unknown
  32. Linola (solin)
  33. Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
  34. Mustard Seed - Brown
  35. Mustard Seed - Oriental
  36. Mustard Seed - Yellow
  37. Mustard Seed - Other and unknown
  38. Oats
  39. Potatoes
  40. Safflower
  41. Soybeans
  42. Spring Rye
  43. Sugar Beets
  44. Sunflower Seeds (include Sunola & other dwarf varieties)
  45. Triticale
  46. Wheat, Durum
  47. Wheat Spring, Canadian Western Extra Strong (utility)
  48. Wheat Spring, Hard Red
  49. Wheat Spring, Red Prairie (semi-dwarf varieties)
  50. Wheat Spring, White Prairie (include semi-dwarf varieties but exclude Soft White Spring Wheat)
  51. Wheat Spring, Soft White (exclude White Prairie Spring Wheat)
  52. Wheat Spring, Other (unlicensed varieties, including Grandin Wheat)
  53. Other Field Crops (list in comments)
  54. Total seeded area (sum of 2a to 2ba)

(go to Section D)

Section D - Tame Hay and Forage Seed

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

Include - Alfalfa and alfalfa mixed with varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes, crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals and under-seeded areas.

Other tame hay

Include - Varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, all forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes and crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals.

Forage seed

Include - All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for seed purposes such as alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - Forage crops harvested or to be harvested for hay or to be used for pasture.

1. Will you have any Tame Hay or Forage Seed in 2009?

  • Yes
  • No (go to Section E)

2. Which crops will you have?

  • Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures (go to question 3)
  • other tame hay (go to question 4)
  • forage seed (go to question 5)

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

3. What will be your total area of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

  • Total area and unit of measure

(Go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to question 6)

Other tame hay

4. What will be your total area of all Other Tame Hay? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

  • Total area and unit of measure

(Go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to question 6)

Forage seed

5. What will be your total area of Forage Seed? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

  • Total area and unit of measure

(Go to the next question)

6. Total Tame Hay and Forage Seed areas (sum of C3 to C5)

  • UOM ( ac , ha , arp )

(go to Section E)

Section E - Land Balance

Summerfallow: Land on which no crop will be grown during the year, but which may be cultivated or worked for weed control and/or moisture conservation, or it may simply be left to lay fallow in order to renew the soil.

Include

  • Chemfallow: summerfallow where herbicides are used without working the soil;
  • Winterkilled land: winterkilled area from crops sown in the previous fall, which will not be reseeded or pastured to another crop;
  • Fall crop area ploughed under but not reseeded;
  • Idle land: improved land which was cropped, pastured or used for agricultural purposes last year, but is not being cropped this year.

Land for pasture or grazing: All land which is being used for pasture, grazing, native pasture, native hay, rangeland and grazable bush used for the grazing or feeding of livestock.

Exclude

  • Areas to be harvested as dry hay, silage or forage seed;
  • Community pastures, co-operative grazing associations or grazing reserves.

If a field is used the same year for harvesting Tame Hay and as a pasture, count it only once as a Tame Hay field.

Other Land:

  • Area of farmstead: farm buildings, farmyard, home garden and roads;
  • New broken land: land which has been cleared and prepared for cultivation but will not be cropped;
  • Wasteland, woodland, cut-over land, slough, swamp, marshland and irrigation ditches;
  • Fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, maple trees, Christmas trees and sod.

What is your total area of Summerfallow, Land for pasture or grazing and Other Land in 2009, using the appropriate UOM ?

  1. Summerfallow
  2. Land for pasture or grazing
  3. Other Land
  4. Total Land Balance (sum of E1 to E3)

(go to Section F)

Section F - Total Land Area

What will be the Total Land Area in 2009, using the appropriate UOM ?

  1. Total Land Area
  2. Sum of sections B3c + C2bb + D6 + E4
  3. Difference between F1 and F2 (F1-F2) If the difference is substantial, please explain in comments.

(go to Section G)

Section G - Federal/Provincial Agreement to Share Information

1. Federal/provincial agreement to share information

Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia residents:

To avoid duplication of enquiry, this survey is conducted under a co-operative agreement to share information with your provincial department of agriculture in accordance with Section 12 of the Statistics Act. Any information shared with a provincial ministry of agriculture is released in aggregate form only. The provincial ministry of agriculture must guarantee the confidentiality of all shared data. Statistics Canada does not provide the respondent's name or address to any provincial ministry of agriculture.

Do you agree to share this information?

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 2)

2. Request for survey results

  • Yes
  • No (go to question 3)

3. Total interview time

  • Time (end of survey)

Comments:

Introduction

Although the idea to study and project the socio-economic and demographic development of a society by simulating a large sample of individuals and their actions and interactions was already expressed in the 1950s, dynamic microsimulation still has yet to find its way into the methodological toolbox of mainstream social scientists. To simulate a society realistically requires detailed data, complicated models, fast computers and extensive testing. The more complex that models get, the more difficult it becomes to understand their operations and to assess their predictive power. One might speculate that microsimulation is too demanding, or that microsimulation models are niche products or dubious black box models, applicable only with caution where other methods are not available. Here, however, we will present an alternative point of view to such speculations.

First, microsimulation is a powerful tool that has already demonstrated its strength in applications of moderate complexity for which other modeling approaches exist--but those other approaches cannot compete in flexibility with the microsimulation approach.

Second, we increasingly face (or recognize) socio-economic challenges for which microsimulation is the only available study tool. Furthermore, microsimulation is an approach that follows naturally from modern research paradigms; it is a complement to detailed data analysis.

Third, microsimulation is an approach whose time has come. More than half a century after the introduction of microsimulation into the social sciences, the main obstacles to this approach have almost disappeared. Computer power has increased exponentially, the collection of individual longitudinal data has become routine, social scientists are trained in longitudinal research, and research itself has moved from a macro to a micro approach and is on the way towards a multilevel integration. The life course perspective has become a dominant paradigm and many of the most pressing problems we face are of a nature which makes dynamic microsimulation the most suitable study approach.

There is also one other former obstacle that has now disappeared. Programming languages, such as Modgen, currently enable researchers with only moderate programming skills – comparable to those needed for statistical software packages – to implement their models.

This material gives an introduction to microsimulation and presents the main underlying ideas as well as the strengths and drawbacks of this approach. It is organized in three parts:

  • first, we start with a definition of dynamic social science microsimulation and a sketch of its history
  • second, we explore three major situations for which microsimulation is an appropriate approach
  • third, we highlight the main strengths and drawbacks of microsimulation. With respect to its strengths, we describe its theoretical strengths from a life course perspective, its practical strengths from a policy makers’ perspective, and its technical strengths. When confronting drawbacks and limitations, we distinguish between intrinsic limitations imposed by randomness and rather transitory limitations imposed by the high demand for data. We also touch briefly on computational and other technical issues, although their corresponding costs are decreasing over time.
Date modified:

Defining dynamic social science microsimulation

What is microsimulation?

A useful way of defining simulation in the social sciences is to think of it as the purposeful use of a model. Therefore, going back one step, social science simulation is both a modeling exercise and the exercise to ‘run the model’, or to ‘play’ or ‘experiment’ with it. The range of purposes is as broad as are the reasons for doing research: solving problems, finding explanations, building theory, predicting the future, and raising consciousness. From a more practical view, we can also add training to this list. Pilots are trained on flight simulators. Why should policy makers not be trained to improve their awareness by computer simulations of policy effects? And why should voters not have tools to study the effects of proposed policy measures? Social science simulation enables such visions.

Dynamic simulation includes time. How did we get where we are now, what changes can we expect for the future, what drives those changes, and how can we influence these processes? Most informed statements about the future are based on dynamic simulations of some kind. Some require complex computer simulations; others are the result of thought experiments. The exploration of future scenarios and how the future is shaped by our individual action is a core achievement of our human brain closely linked to consciousness itself. Being able to predict the future state of a system improves the planning of our actions, both those influencing the outcome of the system, and those affected by it. For example, weather forecasts are produced using complex computer simulations—and we have both fairly adequate forecasting models for the weather tomorrow (which we cannot influence) and much more controversial simulation models for long-term climate change (which we can influence). Dynamic simulation raises the public awareness of potential future problems, be it the storm tomorrow or the effect of CO2 emissions over time. The same potential to raise awareness and improve the planning of our actions holds true in the social sciences for issues such as population aging, concentration of wealth or sustainability of social security systems.

Dynamic microsimulation is a specific type of dynamic simulation. Unfortunately microsimulation itself can be a confusing word because, despite the ‘micro’ prefix, we are nevertheless still simulating a ‘macro’ system. The ‘micro’ prefix essentially corresponds to how we simulate that system. Many systems are made up of smaller level units. Liquids consist of particles which change behaviour when heated, traffic systems are made up of cars driven on a network of roads, and societies and economies consist of people, households, firms, etc. All of these systems have one feature in common--macro level changes result from the actions and interactions of the micro units. The idea of microsimulation is that the best way to simulate such a system is often to model and simulate the actions and interactions of its smaller scale units and to obtain macro outcomes by aggregation.

Dynamic social science microsimulation can be perceived as experimenting with a virtual society of thousands - or millions – of individuals who are created and whose life courses unfold in a computer. Depending on the purpose of the model, individuals (or ‘actors’) make education and career choices, form unions, give birth, work, pay taxes, receive benefits, get divorced, migrate, retire, receive pensions, and eventually die. Creating such a ‘scientific computer game’ involves various steps, the first being the modeling of individual behaviour. The dominant micro model types in microsimulation are statistical and econometric models. While the literature is rich in statistical microdata analysis, most research stops after the estimation of models of individual processes. With a microsimulation model, we go one step further: microsimulation adds synthesis to analysis. Accordingly, the second step of microsimulation, after the modeling of individual behaviour, is the programming of the various behavioural models to enable us to run simulations of the whole system. Microsimulation can help us to understand the effect of different processes and changes in processes on the total outcome. The larger the number of interdependent processes that have to be considered, the more difficult it gets to identify and understand the contribution of individual factors on the macro outcome. However, microsimulation provides the tool to study such systems.

Modeling at the micro level facilitates policy simulations. Tax benefit and social security regulations are defined on the individual or family level which makes microsimulation a natural modeling approach, allowing their simulation at any level of detail. As such rules are usually complex and depend in a nonlinear way on various characteristics like family composition or income (e.g. progressive taxes), microsimulation is often the only way for studying the distributional impact and long-term sustainability of such systems. In policy analysis, parts of the power of the microsimulation approach already unfold in so-called static microsimulation models. These are models designed to study the cross-sectional effect of policy change, e.g. by identifying immediate winners and losers of policy reform. Dynamic microsimulation adds a whole new dimension in policy analysis, however, since it allows individuals to be followed over their entire life course.

In the social sciences, dynamic microsimulation goes back to Guy Orcutt's (1957) idea about mimicking natural experiments in economics (Orcutt 1957). His proposed modeling approach corresponds to what can be labelled as the empirical or data-driven stream of dynamic microsimulation models, i.e. models designed and used operatively for forecasting and policy recommendations (Klevmarken 1997). Associated with this type of microsimulation are microeconometric and statistical models as well as accounting routines. In contrast to this empirical stream is the theoretical stream or tradition of agent based simulation (ABS). While constituting microsimulation models under our broad definition, ABS is frequently considered as a separate branch of simulation different from microsimulation. This view is mostly based on the different purpose of ABS modeling (mainly to explore theories) and the different approaches used by ABS in the modeling of micro behaviour (rules based on theory and artificial intelligence). Unless otherwise stated, however, this discussion will only correspond to the data-driven stream of dynamic microsimulation models. (It should be noted, however, that the Modgen language has also successfully been used for ABS, as documented in Wolfson (1999).)

The main components of a typical data-driven microsimulation model can be summarized as follows. In the middle is a population microdatabase storing the characteristics of all members of the population. (From a more object-oriented perspective, the population database can also be viewed and implemented as decentralized individual 'brains' with actors possessing methods to report their states to a virtual statistician responsible for data collection and presentation.) This database is dynamically updated in a simulation run according to micro models of behaviour and policy rules (such as contribution and benefit rules in a pension model). All of these models can be parameterized by the user. Simulation results consist of aggregated tables produced by output routines. Additionally, output can consist of microdata files which can be analyzed by statistical software. Some models (such as all of those generated with Modgen) also allow the graphing of individual biographies.

Orcutt’s vision and today’s reality

Dynamic microsimulation was first introduced into the social sciences in 1957 by Guy Orcutt’s landmark paper ‘A new type of socio-economic system’, a proposal for a new model type mainly based on the frustration about existing macroeconomic projection models. In this paper, Orcutt addresses various shortcomings of macroeconomic models which can be overcome by using microsimulation. The first is the “limited predictive usefulness” of macro models especially related to the effects of governmental action, since macro models are too abstract to allow for fine-grained policy simulations. The second is the focus on aggregates and the ignorance of distributional aspects in macroeconomic studies and projections. Third, he stresses that macro models fail to capitalize on the available knowledge about elemental decision-making units. In contrast, microsimulation is not bound by restrictive assumptions of “absurdly simple relationships about elemental decision-making units” in order to be able to aggregate. Modeling on the level on which decisions are taken makes models not only more understandable, but also, in the presence of nonlinear relationships, “stable relationships at the micro level are quite consistent with the absence of stable relationships at the aggregate level”.

While these observations still hold true after half a century, some of his other observations are a good illustration of how computers have altered research. In fact, a considerable part of his paper is dedicated to the justification of using expensive computer power for simulations – doing something that was widely thought of as the domain of mathematicians and analytic solutions derivable on paper. As one of its advantages, Orcutt notes that microsimulation “… is intelligible to people of only modest mathematical sophistication”.

While this proposed modeling approach was in fact visionary in 1957, due to the lack of sufficient computer power and data availability at that time, Orcutt soon afterwards was in charge of the development of the first large-scale American microsimulation model Dynasim. He later contributed to its offspring CORSIM, which also served as a template for the Canadian CANSIM and Swedish SVERIGE models. In the meantime, dozens of large-scale general purpose models and countless specialized smaller models can now be found around the world, (for a list, see Spielauer 2007). Nevertheless, microsimulation still faces the continued resistance of the mainstream economic profession “imbued with physics envy and ascribing the highest status to mathematical elegance rather than realism and usefulness” (Wolfson 2007). This front is increasingly broken up by the demands of policy makers concerned with distributional questions and facing problems of sustainability of policies in the context of demographic change. This holds especially true for pension models which constitute a showcase for the new demands of policy makers faced with population aging and questions of sustainability and intergenerational fairness, as well as for the power of microsimulation in addressing such issues. As individual pension benefits depend on individual contribution histories as well as family characteristics (e.g. survivor pensions), pension models require very detailed demographic and economic simulations. On one hand, this can make the models very complex, but on the other, it enables them to serve very distinct and separate purposes. Many models are designed as general purpose models capable of studying various behaviours and policies, such as educational dynamics, the distributional impact of tax benefit systems, and health care needs and arrangements. It is the increasing demand of policy makers for more detailed projections necessary for planning purposes, together with advances in data collection and processing, which have triggered this development.

 
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Browsing and changing the underlying chart data

Browing the data longitudinally

To browse the actual data underlying a specific state in the chart, use the Show Longitudinal Data  command in the state pop-up menu.  This command will open a window showing exact times and values used to plot the data. It typically contains values of two states, the tracking state and the actual state selected. The highlighted cell in the Time column of the grid will be the closest time of lesser or equal value to the X axis position of the mouse when the window was opened.

Sample display of underlying longitudinal data values

Copy any selected block of this data to the clipboard using Edit/Copy or Ctrl+C. To select an entire column, click its header tile. To select all data within the window, click and drag across all header tiles.

The Show Longitudinal Data window contains a subset of records from the History table of the database file.  Advanced users may wish to use the object identifier shown in the caption (optionally with the state identifier, also  shown there) to open the database file directly with MS Access and perform further analysis in that environment.

Browsing the data cross sectionally

To browse the chart data for all states at a specific point in time, use the Show Cross Sectional Data command in the state pop-up menu.  This command will open a window showing state values for all selected states at the point in time on the X axis where the mouse was clicked.

Sample displaying cross sectional data values

Changing the biography filter

Once the biography is open, use menu item Filter/Criteria to change both the biography filter and its description. If the filter is changed and the resulting query is not empty, the biography filter tracking band is reset to position 1.  Use menu item Filter/Description… to change only the filter description without affecting the position of the filter tracking band.

You may choose either 1 or 2 conditions for the criteria, both containing a state, operator and value combination. In the case of one condition, select the ‘No second criteria’ option within the Filter Criteria frame.  In the case of two conditions, choose either the ‘And with first criteria’ option or the ‘Or with first criteria’ option. The And criteria will be met if both conditions are satisfied at any time in the actor’s lifetime. Note very well that the conditions do not have to be met simultaneously (over the same period of time). The Or criteria will be met if either condition is satisfied at any time in the actor’s lifetime.

Dialog box to change a biography filter

The above filter demonstrates the use of an And condition. In this case, the person actor must be dominant (a state which is either True or False at birth and never changes) and earnings must have exceeded $100,000 at any time in that person’s lifetime.

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