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8.0 Appendix A – definitions

General

Step 2 – Operator information

Step 3 – Operating arrangement

Step 6 – Location and area of land

Step 12 – Use of the land

Step 16 – Land management practices

Step 22 – Market value of land and buildings

Step 23 – Farm machinery and equipment

Step 26 – Paid agricultural labour

Step 27 – Certified organic products

Agricultural operation: a farm, ranch or other agricultural operation producing agricultural products for sale. Other agricultural operations include, for example: feedlots, greenhouses, mushroom houses, nurseries, Christmas tree farms, fur farms, hobby farms, game farms, beekeeping, sod, fruit and berry, maple syrup and poultry hatchery operations. Sales in the past 12 months are not necessary but there must be the intent of sales.

For the Yukon and Northwest Territories only, the definition also includes operations involved in the following:

• herding wild animals (such as caribou, muskox, and so on)
• breeding sled dogs
• horse outfitting and rigging
• harvesting indigenous plants and berries.

Agricultural products include any of the following:

Backyard gardens: questionnaire completed only if agricultural products are intended for sale.

Boarding and riding stables: operations involved in boarding horses, riding stables and stables for housing and/or training horses must complete a questionnaire even if no agricultural products are sold.

Alternative livestock: bison, deer, elk, llamas, alpacas, wild boars, etc. are becoming more commonplace. These are considered agricultural products and therefore questionnaires must be completed for these operations.

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Agricultural operators: those persons responsible for the day-to-day management and/or financial decisions made in the operation of a farm or an agricultural operation. Operators can be owners, tenants or hired managers of the agricultural operation. This could include those responsible for management decisions pertinent to particular aspects of the farm — planting and harvesting; raising animals; capital purchases; marketing and sales, and other financial decisions.

An agricultural operation may have more than one operator — husband and wife; two brothers; father and son; father, son and wife; father, daughter and husband, two neighbours, etc.

The definition of operator is not intended to include children or other individuals responsible for particular chores or work on the agricultural operation. Only those persons responsible for day-to-day management decisions should be listed as farm operators.

Injuries: any wounds, fractures or other physical damage requiring medical attention that the agricultural operator suffered as a result of an accident related to work on the farm.

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Family corporation: an agricultural corporation in which an individual or family owns the majority of the corporation shares.

Non-family corporation: an agricultural corporation in which a group of unrelated individuals owns the majority of the corporation shares.

Partnership with or without a written agreement: an agricultural operation where the business is owned and operated jointly by two or more persons with or without a written agreement and where risks and profits are shared. The partners may or may not own the land, buildings, machinery, etc.

Sole proprietorship operation: an agricultural operation where one person owns the non-incorporated business. The person who owns the business may or may not own the land, buildings, machinery, etc. There may be multiple operators (persons responsible for the day-to-day management decisions) such as husband and wife, father and son, etc.

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Farm headquarters of an agricultural operation:

• the operator’s residence if he/she lives on land that is part of the agricultural operation
• the location of the main building or main gate of the agricultural operation
• if many parcels of land without buildings are in separate locations, the parcel with the largest land area or share of gross agricultural receipts is considered the farm headquarters.

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Summerfallow land: a term used to describe land on which no crop will be grown in order to conserve moisture but which will be sprayed or cultivated for weed control.

Tame or seeded pasture: grazeable land that has been improved from its natural state by seeding, draining, irrigating, fertilizing or weed control.

Natural land for pasture: grazeable land that has not been recently improved.

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Tillage: the practice of working the soil for the purpose of bringing about the more favourable conditions for plant growth. Clean-till (conventional tillage) incorporates most of the crop residue into the soil while minimum-till (conservation tillage) retains most of the crop residue on the surface. No-till includes direct seeding into stubble or sod.

Crop rotation: a practice where crops are alternated each year, or in a multi-year cycle, for soil conservation or disease control purposes.

Permanent grass cover: a practice where a field or land is kept in grass cover indefinitely to keep the soil from being eroded away.

Winter cover crops: crops such as oats or fall rye seeded in the fall to protect the soil from water and wind erosion during the winter and from heavy rains and run-off in the spring.

Green manure crops for plough down: the practice of incorporating young green plants into the soil for fertility purposes. These plants are usually grown with the single purpose of being used as a soil improver. Common examples are buckwheat and red clover.

Contour cultivation: the practice of cultivating the field across the slope to reduce soil erosion from rapid water run-off.

Grassed waterways: either natural or constructed to control soil erosion. The waterway is permanently grassed and consists of a shallow channel, which is designed to slow down run-off water. The grass stabilizes the soil and prevents it from being washed away. They are usually shaped to allow easy crossings by farm machinery.

Strip-cropping: (or strip farming, field strip-cropping or wind strip-cropping) a method of controlling soil erosion by dividing the farm into narrow fields having different crops, with or without fallow. For example, the narrow fields may be alternately cropped–uncropped (e.g., wheat–fallow–wheat–fallow) or they may be strips of different crops (cereals, corn, soybeans). The widths of the cropped strips are usually multiples of a tillage implement or spray boom, etc.

Windbreaks or shelterbelts: trees, either planted or naturally present. This practice is used more predominantly in western Canada where farmland is more susceptible to wind action and where trapping snow for moisture is important.

Mechanical or hand weeding of crops: extracting weeds mechanically or by hand.

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Present market value: the amount a farm operator could expect to receive if he/she sold his/her land and buildings in today’s market.

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Step 23 — Farm machinery and equipment

Present market value: the amount a machine or piece of equipment would bring if it were sold in today’s market.

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Paid on a year-round basis: an employee who is employed either part time or full time12 months of the year.

Paid on a seasonal or temporary basis: an employee who works part time or full time for only part of the year.

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Certified organic products: Certified organic products come from farms that are operated according to a set of principles requiring the avoidance of manufactured chemicals and whose adherence to these principles is verified by a third party authorized to certify the operation. The questionnaire asked those operations producing certified organic products what four main categories of products they produced: fruits, vegetables or greenhouse products; field crops; animals or animal products (meat, milk, eggs, etc.) and other (maple syrup, herbs, etc.).

Organic certifying agency: A certification agency is an accreditation body that can be a co-operative association or an incorporated entity. It is responsible for establishing a standard and then verifying that those seeking its accreditation meet that standard. Organic certification is based on the Organic Agriculture Standard put out by the Canadian General Standards Board and differs slightly from province to province.