{"id":4033,"date":"1950-11-01T01:00:00","date_gmt":"1950-11-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/november-1950-vol-31-no-11-agriculture-in-canadas-economy\/"},"modified":"2022-11-28T13:58:26","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T13:58:26","slug":"november-1950-vol-31-no-11-agriculture-in-canadas-economy","status":"publish","type":"rbc_letter","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/november-1950-vol-31-no-11-agriculture-in-canadas-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"November 1950 &#8211; Vol. 31, No. 11 &#8211; Agriculture in Canada&#8217;s Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"layout-column-main\">\n<p class=\"boldtext\">Farming is everyone&#8217;s business,                     not only because it furnishes our daily food but because it                     is the base of so many industries and so much of Canada&#8217;s                     trade and commerce.<\/p>\n<p> Agriculture is our most important single industry. It employs                     a quarter of our gainfully occupied population. The economic                     welfare of the whole nation is affected by changes in farm                     income and purchasing power.<\/p>\n<p>City people have quaint ideas about farm life. They see                     a farmer living in his own house, without rent to pay, growing                     a big part of his own food. He is free to work as and when                     he pleases. He need never fear unemployment.<\/p>\n<p>These things are true, but the impression turns out differently                     if we follow a successful farmer around the clock. Success                     in farming is the result of clear thinking and skilful management,                     and a great deal of hard work.<\/p>\n<p>The man on the farm is the force that welds land and equipment                     into a producing unit. He plans his crop rotations, attends                     to the fertility of his soil, balances his livestock programme                     with the feed available, controls expenses, uses labour and                     machinery efficiently, and finds his market.<\/p>\n<p>That is a complex business. The changes wrought in farming                     during even one lifetime are astounding. Today&#8217;s farmer must                     be able to use and maintain power machinery, hire and supervise                     labour, obtain and manage large amounts of capital, control                     expenses, attain a balance between all phases of his farm&#8217;s                     business, and apply his own physical energy as his fathers                     did.<\/p>\n<p>Not all this is to be learned in books. Farming is an ancient                     occupation. It has gathered round it a vast fund of wisdom                     and skill, transmitted from father to son on the thin air                     of oral tradition or of living example. We must not underestimate                     the worth and power of this body of rural lore and technique.<\/p>\n<p>There are probably no instruments known to any craft which                     are more perfect in their adaptation, with more fine points                     upon which success or failure depend, than the simple implements                     of modern farming. The shaping of the mouldboard of a plough                     so as to give maximum efficiency with minimum effort is a                     problem of the utmost nicety.<\/p>\n<h3>The Farmer&#8217;s Market<\/h3>\n<p>Just as agriculture is at the base of all other prosperity,                     so agriculture depends upon all other industry for its state                     of well-being. Only in an environment of high level employment,                     abundant production, and high purchasing power can farming                     be a profitable pursuit.<\/p>\n<p>Because of limitations in the home market, Canadian farmers                     are dependent on export trade. Any attempt to keep their income                     at a high level requires maintaining exports at 20 to 40 per                     cent of their production. Farmers have high interest not only                     in the normal functioning of the Canadian economy, but also                     in an expanding world economy, and therefore in world peace.<\/p>\n<p>This introduces one of he most provocative of problems.                     It is easy to say &#8220;The more we buy from other countries, the                     more they can buy from us.&#8221; But what we sell them depends                     upon the bargains we offer. Our prices must be in line with                     those available in the world at large, and this compels us                     to keep costs as low as possible if we are to realize a satisfactory                     net income.<\/p>\n<p>There are many countries where, if they had the purchasing                     power, Canadian wheat and meat and fruit could be used to                     advantage. To develop them into markets is the aim of sections                     of the United Nations, of President Truman&#8217;s point four programme,                     and of the gifts and loans made so munificently by Canada.<\/p>\n<h3>Canada&#8217;s Farms<\/h3>\n<p>Agriculture was not Canada&#8217;s leading economic activity until                     comparatively recent times. Vernon C. Fowke, Associate Professor                     of Economics at the University of Saskatchewan, said in his                     book entitled <em>Canadian Agricultural Policy, the Historical                     Pattern<\/em>: &#8220;Until perhaps a hundred years ago it was not                     agricultural prospects which attracted newcomers to venture                     energies and resources in the New World&#8230;.Agriculture, it                     might be said, was not indigenous to Canada; it was established                     and expanded only under conditions of extreme and prolonged                     difficulty.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The profitable and attractive opportunities in Canada were                     of other sorts, generally commercial. But when the last census                     was taken it showed that 39 per cent of Canadian manufacturing                     plants were engaged in working upon Canadian farm products.                     In turn, the farms of Canada represent a vast potential market                     for industrial products. Estimates based on the census indicate                     that practically half the Canadian market for products of                     city manufacture is provided by farmers.<\/p>\n<p>Where are these farms, and who own them? The following table,                     compiled at the time of the census, tells the story:<\/p>\n<p>Occupied Farms and Land Tenure in Canada in Percentages                     by Provinces<\/p>\n<table width=\"415\" border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"smltabletxt\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">Number of Occupied Farms<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">Per Cent owned<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">Per Cent rented<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">Per cent part owned part                         rented<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Canada<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">732,715<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">75<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">13<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">P.E.I.<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">12,234<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">92<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">2<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Nova Scotia<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">32,963<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">92<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">3<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">New Brunswick<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">31,881<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">92<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">3<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Quebec<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">164,629<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">93<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">4<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Ontario<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">178,169<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">79<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">12<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Manitoba<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">58,022<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">66<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">19<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Saskatchewan<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">138,703<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">53<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">24<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">Alberta<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">99,716<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">62<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">20<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">17<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">British Columbia<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">26,372<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">80<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">11<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"right\">8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Farm Finances<\/h3>\n<p>Good farmers have little difficulty, today, with their financing.                     Proper financing, both from the long- and short-term                     credit standpoints, can mean a great deal in success or failure,                     but sources of credit are plentiful. Canadian chartered banks                     provide a large share of the short-term credit used by                     farmers. Their local branch managers know the financial and                     personal rating of the local farmers, and advances are readily                     arranged.<\/p>\n<p>In talking of credit, it is well to emphasize the value                     of a true appraisal by the farmer of his needs, his ability                     to repay, and the most economical source of credit to meet                     his situation. Too easy credit should be avoided if it means                     taking excessive risks, and the farmer should consult his                     banker, or someone else equally familiar with the broad agricultural                     picture as well as with local conditions, before making decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Credit needs to be used judiciously. Credit for productive                     purposes is justified when after careful and conservative                     calculation the prospective returns from the venture amount                     to more than the cost. As was pointed out in the C.B.C. <em>Summer                     Fallow <\/em>programme, in a play entitled <em>Country Banker<\/em>,                     the Canadian banks, while eager to advance credit for farm                     expansion and development, are equally keen to save farmers                     from embarking on expenditures which would end in grief for                     both lender and borrower.<\/p>\n<p>It should be mentioned in this regard that the census of                     1946 in the prairie provinces showed 81 percent less indebtedness                     covered by liens than ten years before, and the number of                     farms reporting debt covered by mortgages and agreements of                     sale dropped from 120,318 to 66,846.<\/p>\n<p>This, of course, reflects an easier farm income period.                     The prosperity and well-being of farmers do not depend                     on agriculture having any given proportion of the national                     income, but on achieving and maintaining adequate income per                     worker.<\/p>\n<p>It is impossible to give a figure which will represent the                     net income of a farmer, because it varies with every community                     and farm, and year by year. The estimates, however, are interesting.<\/p>\n<p>Cash income from the sale of farm products, the most important                     income component, represents the gross returns from all products                     sold off farms, valued at prices received by the farmers.                     This figure reached an all-time high in 1948, and receded                     a trifle in 1949 to $2,457 million. As to how the income was                     made up, here are interesting details from the <em>Statistical                     Summary <\/em>of the Bank of Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Cash Income from the Sale of Farm Products<\/p>\n<p>(Millions of Dollars)<\/p>\n<table width=\"415\" border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"smltabletxt\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"28\" valign=\"top\">Year<\/td>\n<td width=\"47\" align=\"center\" valign=\"top\">Field Crops<\/td>\n<td width=\"58\" align=\"center\" valign=\"top\">Livestock<\/td>\n<td width=\"167\" align=\"center\" valign=\"top\">Dairy Products Poultry &amp; Eggs<\/td>\n<td width=\"47\" align=\"center\" valign=\"top\">All Other<\/td>\n<td width=\"30\" align=\"center\" valign=\"top\">Total<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">1930<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">274<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">158<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">165<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">35<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">632<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">1940<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">291<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">245<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">183<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">47<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">766<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">1949<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">1056<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">762<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">500<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">139<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">2457<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Mechanization<\/h3>\n<p>The development of labour-saving machinery has been                     a big feature of Canadian agriculture. Anyone looking around                     the average Canadian farm today is amazed when he thinks that                     it was only in 1837 that John Deere made his first steel plough                     from an old saw blade. Canadian farmers certainly are not                     like the natives on a South American estate who allowed a                     valuable steel cart to rust in idleness because it did not                     squeak like their old wooden carts.<\/p>\n<p>At the half-way mark of the 20th century, a survey                     of the technological changes in farm life seems to indicate                     that farm people have benefitted. The effects have not all                     been good, but the levels of living for farm people have improved                     most in the areas where the greatest changes have occurred.<\/p>\n<p>In 1901 the total value of machinery on Canadian farms was                     $108,665,502, an average per farm of $213 and per acre $1.71.                     In twenty years the total had grown to $665,180,416, the value                     per farm had increased to $935, and the value per acre was                     $4.72. In the ten years prior to 1948 Canadian farmers spent                     more than $740 million on machinery and equipment; in the                     one year, 1948, they spent $237 per farm, on the average.<\/p>\n<p>The transformation in Canada&#8217;s agriculture by these successive                     changes from hand power to horse power and then to machine                     power goes far beyond mere labour saving. It has altered the                     Canadian farm from a place where diversified production was                     pursued for home use to specialized production for the market.<\/p>\n<p>Efficient use of machinery is of the greatest importance                     in keeping down costs and thereby increasing profit. It is                     just as wasteful to use unnecessary machinery as it is to                     have inadequate machinery. It is wasteful, too, when machinery                     is not properly protected from the weather. The cost of protection                     is discussed by H. R. Hare, Agricultural Adviser, the National                     Employment Service, in his book <em>Farm Business Management<\/em>.                     Mr. Hare estimates that in the damp climate of Eastern Canada                     it will pay to spend as much as 20 per cent of the value of                     the farm machinery in constructing a building for its shelter,                     while in the drier atmosphere of the Prairie Provinces no                     more than 10 per cent of the machinery value should be so                     expended.<\/p>\n<h3>Family Farms<\/h3>\n<p>Farming in Canada is, for the most part, of the family farm                     kind. All people on the farm contribute to the general programme,                     and all economic and social activities are shared in common.<\/p>\n<p>This ideal of production for a common family purpose, of                     building a family and perpetuating a prosperous, productive                     estate, is one of the greatest factors in adding dignity to                     family life. No artificial methods are needed to bring together                     the members of a family farm. In no other sphere of life do                     we find the sexes quite as indispensable for each other&#8217;s                     well being as they prove in the country.<\/p>\n<p>One farmer&#8217;s wife said: &#8220;An important advantage is that                     farm life makes it easier for the wife&#8217;s and husband&#8217;s interests                     to be the same. Everything is to be cared for and planned                     together and at home instead of outside the home. Thus a man                     is not so apt to become a meal, clothing and shelter coupon                     for the wife, and she to become just cook and housekeeper.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Farmers are, as a class, more independent than any other                     large class. The vast majority of them are their own employers,                     heads of independent enterprises.<\/p>\n<h3>Big or Small Farm?<\/h3>\n<p>What size of farm is required to permit an effective use                     of the labour of the farm family and to provide a minimum                     acceptable standard of living? There are only general guides.                     Professor David L. MacFarlane, Macdonald College, comments                     in a <em>Queen&#8217;s Quarterly <\/em>article on the difficulty of                     securing an economic combination of land, labour and machinery.                     He says: &#8220;Without important exceptions some 85 per cent of                     our farms are too small or their operators too limited in                     capital to reach the degree of mechanization called for by                     economic standards.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Acreage is not a final test of efficient production. More                     capital may be invested and more labour applied on ten acres                     intensively farmed than upon a thousand acres extensively                     farmed, with equally good income returns. The available evidence                     seems to show that family-operated farms which are large                     enough to utilize labour-saving equipment and other improved                     techniques usually can compete effectively, so far as providing                     a good living level goes, with large-scale units.<\/p>\n<p>No article issued by this Bank, which has always had at                     heart the wise use of Canada&#8217;s natural resources, would be                     complete without mention of conservation.<\/p>\n<p>All revenue from farm operation is obtained through the                     medium of crops and livestock, and soil is the basic resource                     in their production. Income yield depends to a large extent                     upon land being used for purposes for which it is best suited.<\/p>\n<p>Rough and stony land may break the heart and exhaust the                     bank account of the man who tries to till it for crops, but                     may return good earnings when used for pasture or woodlots.                     Other land may produce spindly plants, or plants deficient                     in nutrient qualities, because the minerals have been exhausted                     by repeated cropping or by erosion. This land can be brought                     back to productivity by carting out a long-term plan                     of fertilization, crop rotation, and rational cultivation.                     Farmers have realized that increased yields can be obtained                     by the use of fertilizers. Sales of fertilizer materials and                     mixtures for use in Canada rose from 170,000 tons in 1927                     to 742,000 tons in 1949.<\/p>\n<h3>Making Work Easier<\/h3>\n<p>However it is approached, farm work is hard work. The farmer                     owes it to himself to make it as easy and as efficient as                     possible.<\/p>\n<p>The general layout of the farm can be such as to save both                     land and labour, and at the same time to increase the very                     desirable margin between cost and gross income.<\/p>\n<p>Before plunging deeply into expenditure for laboursaving                     devices, the farmer should carefully calculate their cost                     and the savings he hopes they will produce. Once purchased,                     the depreciation, repairs and insurance become annual charges.<\/p>\n<p>One of the greatest causes of waste energy is the lack of                     proper buildings and the bad arrangement of buildings. The                     doing of chores is a daily job, and a few steps a day taken                     unnecessarily adds up to a lot of miles in a year. Just an                     unnecessary trip of 10 rods and return across the farmstead                     once a day will result in the loss of one and a haft day&#8217;s                     time in a year.<\/p>\n<p>Farm magazines and books provide many suggestions for a                     farm&#8217;s efficiency. No man can take a readymade formula and                     apply it to his own farm, but the general suggestions may                     be adapted and tailored to fit particular circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone interested in literature dealing with farm operation                     should write to his provincial department of agriculture or                     to the federal authorities.<\/p>\n<h3>Applying Science<\/h3>\n<p>Science is at hand, too, to help the farmer. All farm people,                     and the economy generally, will benefit by the discoveries                     of scientists and the technological developments which flow                     from them.<\/p>\n<p>The farmer&#8217;s business has to do with the manipulation of                     nature, and nature brooks no radical departure from its accustomed                     ways: it cannot be tricked or deluded. In olden times, farmers                     were guided by superstition: today the questions in farming                     are answered by men who have wrought out the problems by research                     in the agricultural colleges and experiment stations. There                     are in operation 29 experimental farms and stations, 64 sub-stations,                     and 9 branch laboratories. The colleges of agriculture have                     agencies through which every type of farm information is available.                     There are county and district agricultural representatives                     specially trained in the agriculture that is typical of the                     locality in which they serve.<\/p>\n<p>Farm management involves the joining together of principles                     and facts from many sources. It requires an understanding                     of basic economics, of several natural sciences, and of applied                     sciences such as agronomy and animal husbandry. The farmer                     needs to adjust his farm operations to the varying conditions                     of soil and climate; he must have in mind the requirements                     of the market, his costs, and the development of his farm                     to meet the needs of next year.<\/p>\n<p>There are no blueprints for this kind of efficient management.                     Keen thinking based on sound information, and planning based                     on the farm&#8217;s resources and limitations frankly faced m these                     are the essentials of good management.<\/p>\n<p>How they are applied is a personal matter with the individual                     farmer. One man may be content to accept a low return, with                     its consequent low living standard; many more will wish to                     apply the knowledge freely available to them in an effort                     to raise their family living level at once, and bequeath to                     their successors farms which have improved under their administration.<\/p>\n<h3>Records are Helpful<\/h3>\n<p>One of the best aids to management is a set of good records.                     Incomplete accounting in urban business is charged with being                     the cause of more failures than any other business short-coming,                     and surely we may attribute an equal proportion of farm failures                     and of mediocre success to the same cause.<\/p>\n<p>There is no simple system applicable to all farms, because                     every farmer has his own ideas of work, of help and of ambition.                     The system of greatest usefulness is the one that tells the                     individual farmer the most about his business without making                     too great demands upon his time. Such a record will show him                     not only the total results of his year&#8217;s farming, but the                     part contributed to his profit or loss by each enterprise.<\/p>\n<p>There are special forms to assist farmers in preparation                     of a farm budget, available free of charge from the Economics                     Division, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa. A <em>Farmers&#8217;                     Account Book<\/em>, providing a simple and practical method                     of keeping farm records, is published for free distribution                     by The Royal Bank of Canada. It may be obtained on request                     to a local branch, or from head office. A <em>Milk Weight Record                     <\/em>book is offered by the Bank to keepers of dairy herds.                     Booklets on woodlots and conservation may also be had without                     charge.<\/p>\n<h3>The Farm Way of Life<\/h3>\n<p>One&#8217;s standard of living can be what one wishes to make                     it: the problem then is to reach it. To most people it will                     seem as if the farmer has greater chance of reaching his standard                     than have most city dwellers. Many of the things for which                     city folk yearn are commonplace to the farmer, not as superficialities,                     but as the realities of everyday living.<\/p>\n<p>Nature, with which the farm family has so close contact,                     is straight-forward and sincere. There are, consequently,                     fewer artificialities in the rural community. Associations                     are highly personal, so that pretense is practically impossible.                     The farmer is accustomed to saying what he thinks and meaning                     what he says.<\/p>\n<p>But the farm cannot hold its young people unless community                     life can be made attractive, social life agreeable, and income                     comparable with what would be earned in cities. There needs                     to be opportunity, too, for intellectual and aesthetic enjoyment,                     for health services and education.<\/p>\n<p>Much has been done in the past quarter century by the introduction                     of rural mail delivery, telephones, automobiles and radios                     to overcome the isolation of farm dwellers. The church, as                     always, has been to the forefront in building up a wholesome                     social life and fostering mutual helpfulness, and the school                     has become, in thousands of communities, the centre of planning                     and improvement.<\/p>\n<p>It is only as farm people themselves catch a vision of a                     better community, and command the many agencies at their disposal                     to make it a reality, that farm life will roach its highest                     peak of happiness. There is no social legislation that can                     do it for them. The achievement must come from within the                     community itself.<\/p>\n<p>Farming is a way of life, as well as being a business. Many                     farm homes, though having little of a physical nature to make                     them attractive, are centres where young and old enjoy all                     that is most precious in family living. There is a compulsion                     of nobility upon the man in close touch with nature.<\/p>\n<p>There are hardships. Like pioneering, farming has always                     required unusual amounts of industry, thrift and stamina.                     The people are misled who think that because they have read                     of one hen that laid 300 eggs in a year, and of one cow that                     produced 10,000 quarts of milk in a year, therefore farming                     is a soft job. Life on a farm is a long-drawn question                     mark between one crop and the next. There are always new anxieties.                     The farmer must plan for next year before this year&#8217;s crop                     is harvested, and for the year after, and the year after that.                     He must do painstaking work today with no prospect of seeing                     a tangible result for years to come.<\/p>\n<p>Farming is not static, but sprightly. The farmer is a man                     versatile and resourceful, able to decide what is to be done                     next, out of a great pressure of duties. His work has more                     variety, more room for initiative and self-direction                     than the work of a city artisan or foreman. All this is accompanied                     by an ancient and single-eyed simplicity of purpose.<\/p>\n<p>There is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing                     a poem; the farmer, more than all others on earth, takes the                     soil, the winds, the clouds and the sunbeams into partnership.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"rbc_letter_theme":[],"rbc_letter_year":[30],"class_list":["post-4033","rbc_letter","type-rbc_letter","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized","rbc_letter_year-30"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>November 1950 - Vol. 31, No. 11 - Agriculture in Canada&#039;s Economy - RBC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/november-1950-vol-31-no-11-agriculture-in-canadas-economy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"November 1950 - Vol. 31, No. 11 - Agriculture in Canada&#039;s Economy - RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Farming is everyone&#8217;s business, not only because it furnishes our daily food but because it is the base of so many industries and so much of Canada&#8217;s trade and commerce. Agriculture is our most important single industry. It employs a quarter of our gainfully occupied population. 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