SAIFood
Crop Rotation Survey

Crop Rotation Survey

Crop Rotation Survey 1

The Crop Rotation Survey

The Crop Rotation Survey, conducted through the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan, benchmarks the changes and advancements made in crop production over the past 25 years. The purpose of this project is to evaluate farmers’ progress towards sustainable on-farm practices. The data will be used to inform governments and the public about the improvements in crop production sustainability.

The Crop Rotation Survey will collect information on all aspects of farmers’ production, from seeding, fertilizer, tillage, and chemical application to harvest, during the periods of both 1991-1994 and 2016-2019. Due to Covid-19, all participation has been moved online. Farmers are invited to participate online by completing the survey from home. Though we will be collecting information from both 1991-1994 and 2016-2019, farmers do not need to have been farming in both periods to participate. Participants of the Crop Rotation Survey will receive up to $200 in compensation. 

In the fall of 2020, Chelsea Sutherland opened the survey to Saskatchewan crop farmers for her Master’s thesis. We have now opened up the survey to include farmers from Alberta and Manitoba, alongside Saskatchewan producers. If you are a current or former crop producer from the Canadian Prairies and you have not yet participated, please consider Dr. Smyth’s research team by completing the survey

Click on the linked text if you would like to learn more our research. You can register for the survey by clicking the button below.

When registering, you will be given the choice of which week you would like to complete the survey online. You will have 5 days, beginning on Monday of your selected week and ending on Friday afternoon, to complete the online survey. It will likely take between 2-4 hours to complete all components of the survey, however, you will be able to save your progress and return to the survey throughout the week. 

Those who complete the survey(s), and have not already completed the survey the year before (or someone else from your farm), will be compensated for your participation.

More Information and Registration

Participation in the Crop Rotation Survey helps give farmers a voice when it comes to GHG emissions, carbon sequestration, and land and soil stewardship. While farmers are working hard to adopt innovative and sustainable practices, these efforts are often not recognized by the government or the public. The adoption of many of these sustainable practices have taken place in the absence of government involvement or mandate, yet agricultural and environmental policies often do not seem to account for their contributions. Participation in the survey will help to shape policy in a way that recognizes the steps taken by Canadian farmers towards improved environmental sustainability.

To register for online participation, please click here. For more information on the Crop Rotation Surveys, please visit our Facebook page or reach out to one of the following researchers from the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics:

Stuart Smyth, Ph.D.

Associate Professor & Research Chair in Agri-Food Innovations
E-mail: [email protected]    

Savannah Gleim, M.Sc.

Research Officer
E-mail: [email protected]

Chelsea Sutherland, M.Sc.

Research Assistant (On Leave)
E-mail: [email protected]

Intro to Survey launched in 2020

The Environmental Change of Saskatchewan Crop Production
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