Market Development & Access
The Economic Impact of Our Crops
On behalf of Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA), GlobalData undertook a study to assess the impact of Manitoba-grown wheat (excluding durum), barley, grain corn, sunflower and flax on the Manitoba economy.
Together, these five crop types account for a large part of Manitoba agriculture. Several of these crops are also the foundations for important food industries, both within the province and beyond.
Note
all data are an average of 2018/19 – 2020/21 crop years. “Total” revenue, jobs and wages represent the direct benefits from crop production, the indirect benefits from associated economic activities and industries, and the induced benefits from household spending of the income earned from the wheat, barley, grain corn, sunflower and flax sectors.
Total Economic, Employment And Wage Impact Of MCA Crop Types
Revenue ($ in millions)
-
Direct
Total -
1,967
4,514Wheat
-
Direct
Total -
283
967Barley
-
Direct
Total -
501
1,264Corn
-
Direct
Total -
46
94Sunflower
-
Direct
Total -
30
62Flax
-
Direct
Total -
2,827
6,902All MCA Crop Types
Jobs (full-time equivalent)
-
Direct
Total -
8,061
19,499Wheat
-
Direct
Total -
1,293
4,311Barley
-
Direct
Total -
1,159
3,702Corn
-
Direct
Total -
150
348Sunflower
-
Direct
Total -
118
277Flax
-
Direct
Total -
10,780
28,137All MCA Crop Types
Wages ($ in millions)
-
Direct
Total -
649
1,898Wheat
-
Direct
Total -
77
257Barley
-
Direct
Total -
89
298Corn
-
Direct
Total -
13
40Sunflower
-
Direct
Total -
10
32Flax
-
Direct
Total -
838
2,526All MCA Crop Types
SHARE OF TOTAL REVENUEGENERATED BY CROP TYPE
SHARE OF TOTAL JOBSSUPPORTED BY CROP TYPE
SHARE OF TOTAL WAGESGENERATED BY CROP TYPE
LEGEND
- Wheat
- Corn
- Sunflower
- Flax
Additional Crop Type Information
CORN
- The total economic impact of the grain corn sector on Manitoba’s economy averages over $1.2 billion per year and peaked in 2019/2020 at $1.3 billion.
- Over 3,680 full-time equivalent jobs are supported by the grain corn sector, comprising around 3,385 paid jobs and close to 300 additional farm family members (beyond the growers themselves) who support and are supported by grain corn farming operations.
- The total wage impact of the sector averages close to $320 million and peaked in 2021/22 at over $370 million, following gains in local grain corn production.
Total economic, employment and wage impact by subsector
| Revenue($ in millions) | Jobs(full-time equivalent) | Wages($ in millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farming | 471.58 | 1,441 | 228.25 |
| Elevation | 3.83 | 5 | 0.33 |
| Crop delivery | 56.86 | 254 | 15.03 |
| Distilling | 180.03 | 106 | 5.13 |
| Dry milling | 256.02 | 117 | 3.06 |
| Feed milling | 213.53 | 1,319 | 58.90 |
| Product delivery | 40.92 | 144 | 8.49 |
| TOTAL | 1,222.76 | 3,385 | 319.20 |
FLAX
- The total economic impact on Manitoba’s economy from its flax sector averaged $89 million per year and peaked in the last marketing year (2021/22) at around $113 million.
- Around 414 full-time equivalent jobs are supported by the flax sector, comprising 354 paid jobs and an additional 60 farm family members (beyond the growers themselves) who support and are supported by flax farming operations.
- The total wage impact of the sector averaged $51 million and peaked in the past marketing year around $79 million.
Total economic, employment and wage impact by subsector
| Revenue($ in millions) | Jobs(full-time equivalent) | Wages($ in millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farming | 75.51 | 282 | 47.14 |
| Elevation | 2.49 | 5 | 0.35 |
| Crop delivery | 2.43 | 11 | 0.67 |
| Processing | 7.46 | 51 | 2.99 |
| Product delivery | 1.08 | 5 | 0.27 |
| TOTAL | 88.96 | 354 | 51.43 |
SUNFLOWER
- The total economic impact on Manitoba’s economy from its sunflower sector averaged $125 million per year and peaked in the last marketing year (2021/22) at around $154 million.
- Around 450 full-time equivalent jobs are supported by the sunflower sector, comprising around 390 paid jobs and an additional 60 farm family members (beyond the growers themselves) who support and are supported by sunflower farming operations.
- The total wage impact of the sector averaged around $54 million and peaked in the past marketing year at around $75 million.
Total economic, employment and wage impact by subsector
| Revenue ($ in millions) | Jobs (full-time equivalent) | Wages ($ in millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farming | 111.27 | 287 | 47.69 |
| Elevation | 1.88 | 5 | 0.32 |
| Crop delivery | 2.14 | 0 | 0 |
| Processing | 7.47 | 68 | 3.99 |
| Product delivery | 2.37 | 31 | 1.77 |
| TOTAL | 125.13 | 391 | 53.77 |
WHEAT AND BARLEY
Data related to the economic impact of wheat and barley on Manitoba’s economy was commissioned by Cereals Canada and can be found at the link below.