| This study undertakes a comprehensive analysis of productivity growth in Prairie agriculture. Over the 1940 to 2004 period productivity growth in Prairie agriculture grew at a rate of 1.56 percent a year. This aggregate measure does not indicate the substantial variation in productivity growth occurring: the crops sector records considerably higher productivity growth than the livestock sector; Manitoba agriculture displays consistently higher productivity growth than Alberta or Saskatchewan; from 1980 to 2004 productivity growth in the livestock sector increases, and it declines in the crops sector from 1994 to 2004 in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The productivity growth is largely the result of technical change in the crops sector while economies of scale play a critical role in generating productivity growth in the livestock sector. Causal factors responsible for the reported agricultural productivity growth rates include: research and development expenditures, terms of trade, types of agricultural outputs, and geoclimatic conditions. |
