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Agricultural Income

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

J. B. Rutherford*
Affiliation:
Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Ottawa
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Extract

The first part of this paper is given over to a discussion of definitions, terminology, and objectives in income analysis. The second part deals with methods and sources of material in the study of cash income. The third part describes some results obtained to date in this work. “Agricultural income” is defined as the value of goods and services produced on farms which become available during a given period for consumption or investment, after providing for the maintenance and replacement of goods and services employed in production. Since the national income is the final test of the state of economic activity, it is essential that the national income data be as complete and accurate as possible. The completeness and accuracy of the national income estimate are dependent upon the completeness and accuracy of the estimates for the various industries. The income from agriculture should, therefore, be carefully appraised. The second main objective in measuring agricultural income is to enable a comparison of changes in the well-being of those engaged in farming with changes in the well-being of those engaged in other industries. These objectives constitute the important reasons for undertaking income analysis. The measurements of individual farm returns, such as labour income, labour earnings, or variations of gross or net income, are commonly used in studying the efficiency of management in the farm business. For this purpose they are very useful, but their field of service is definitely limited.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 1938

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References

page 420 note 1 Black, John D. (ed.), Research in Agricultural Income (Social Science Research Council, New York, 06, 1933), bulletin 6, p. 5.Google Scholar Also Income Parity for Agriculture (United States Department of Agriculture, 04, 1938).Google Scholar Part I: Farm Income. Sect. I: Income from Cotton and Cottonseed. Also Income Parity for Persons on Farms” (Address by Dr.Stine, O. C. to Western Farm Economics Association, Reno, Nevada, 06, 1937).Google Scholar

page 423 note 2 In recent years considerable farm survey material has been made available for Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Studies have been made by the Universities of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta in co-operation with the Canadian Pioneer Problems Committee and the Dominion and provincial Departments of Agriculture. Much of this material has not yet been published.

page 426 note 3 Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, vol. II, 11, 1936, p. 535.Google Scholar

page 426 note 4 Bulletins 37, 43, 46, and 52, University of Saskatchewan.

page 428 note 5 “Income Parity for Persons on Farms.”

page 430 note 1 This average yield was lower than that for the fourteen years 1915-28 inclusive; while the average prices chosen give a lower aggregate money value to the 1926 crop than the average 1924-6 prices. It is therefore submitted that both yields and prices were conservatively chosen. All the basic data were drawn from the Monthly Bulletin of Agricultural Statistics.