A John Deere Publication
The past half century Canadian farmers have been riding an emotional roller coaster. A string of good years comes along and raises their confidence, then a bad one will come along and shake it. It's been quite the ride.
Agriculture, Education February 01, 2026
A Roller Coaster Ride
Fifty years of ups and downs in the Canadian farm commodity market.
Story and Photos by Lorne McClinton
What's it been like to farm in Canada over the past half century? Any producer who's been through it will tell you it's been a wild roller coaster ride. Farmers have ridden it from euphoric highs to gut-wrenching lows.
The oldest recall the commodity boom of the early 1970s, when a truckload of grain could buy a tractor. That golden moment faded quickly. The 1980s brought drought and sky-high interest rates. It was followed by a slow recovery in the 1990s. But in the late '90s livestock producers endured the hog price crash, and then mad cow disease havoc in the early 2000s.
Hard times don't last forever though. Those years were followed by a long commodity boom from roughly 2006 to 2024. Realized net farm income in Canada rose by 69.6% in 2021 and 18.3% in 2023. Grain prices headed south in 2025, but cattle prices have soared to record levels.
''I thought I had the world by the tail when I started farming in 1976,'' recalls Blaine Steer from Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan. '' We bought our first land in 1977 with a 29-year loan at 10.25% interest. It seemed fair, especially when rates hit 18%.''
''It sounds like science fiction now, but my first operating loan in 1981 was at 23.25%,'' says Philip Shaw, a grain farmer and market columnist from Dresden, Ontario. ''Even farmers who'd done everything right went broke if their timing was wrong.''
Both Steer and Shaw started farming after the early '70s boom had ended. But Richard Erb, an 82-year-old farmer from Yellow Grass, recalls it vividly. ''Things were so bad in 1970 that the government paid us not to grow wheat,'' Erb says. ''But that completely changed in '73, durum [wheat] went from about two bucks to six. Land doubled to $200 in '74. Everyone thought farming was finally paying off.''
Optimism fueled expansion through the '70s, so the '80s downturn hit hard. Plunging prices, punishing interest rates, and drought were soul crushing. ''I couldn't sleep,'' Steer says. ''If Dad hadn't helped us, we'd have gone under.''
''Many older farmers feared it'd be the 1930s all over again,'' Erb adds. ''Many lost land. Governments reluctantly stepped in with ad hoc programs to help.''
The rest of Canada wasn't spared either. Ontario land values fell by 25%. Shaw remembers neighbors walking away from land they'd just bought.
Above. Blaine Steer thought he had the world by the tail when he was able to secure a 29-year loan at 10.25% interest in 1977. But the 1980s downturn was quite a struggle, he'd have gone under if his dad hadn't helped them out.
''There's one caveat to that: Canada's supply-managed sectors,'' Shaw says. ''They had their challenges, but they retained a more stable profit picture throughout those years. That had a big impact, especially in rural Ontario and Quebec.''
Survival in the '90s demanded change. Prairie farmers adopted no-till and embraced crop diversification en masse. 'Anything but cereals' became the mantra. Lentils, peas, and canola popped up across the Prairies.
''Lentils saved my bacon in the '90s,'' says Steer. ''So did canola. You could sell when you needed cash instead of waiting for a Wheat Board quota call.''
''Corn and soybeans crept northward across Ontario,'' Shaw says. ''We went from corn and beans being grown in a few counties to across Ontario and southern Quebec. Technology, hybrids, and markets made it possible.''
''But the 1980s haunt us,'' Shaw adds. ''We always expected another crash. So, when prices boomed again in the biofuel years, the optimism came back, but the worry never left.''
Millennials started their farming careers about 2006, just in time for an extended run of high prices, low interest rates, and soaring land values. Confidence surged once more. Farmers expanded and adopted new tech.
''We had a good 15-year run,'' Steer says. ''We'd almost forgotten what a bad year felt like.''
They got a reminder when grain prices took another downturn in 2025. Farmers once again are bracing for the ride.
''Farming does teach you humility,'' Steer says. ''You think you're in control, then you're not. You learn to hang on, adapt, and be grateful for the good years.'' ‡
More articles related to:
Read More of The Furrow
AGRICULTURE, EDUCATION
Changing Landscapes
Economic pressures have created a new rural landscape in Canada.
