Please use this guide to help you complete the online Calculator.  Click on any of the topics listed below for further information.

Select your Rural Municipality
Select Years Farmed
Select Years Using Accrual Method of Accounting
Provide Total Year Margins

Structural Change

Crop
Livestock

Financial Information - Income
Total Allowable Income

Commodity Sales
Other Income
Crop/Hail Insurance
Rebates for Eligible Expenses
Custom Feeding
Allowable Program Payments

Financial Information - Expenses

Commodity Purchases
Direct Expenses
Containers and Twine
Fertilizer and Soil Supplements
Pesticides
Crop Insurance Premiums
Veterinary Fees, Medicidne, Breeding Fees
Minerals and Salts
Machinery
Electricity
Freight and Shipping
Heating Fuel
Arm's Length Salaries
Storage and Drying
Prepared Feed
Custom Feeding
Commissions and Levies
Contract Work Income

Select Inventories to Report

Crop Inventory
Livestock Inventory

Income Expense
Fair Market Value (FMV) and CWB Commodity Production
Select Breeding Herd Back Out Years
Summary - 2011 AgriStability Reference Margins
Summary - AgriStability Producer Benefits
Estimated Government Benefit

Please use the drop-down lists to enter:

• Your share of the farming operation. If this is not a partnership operation, enter 100 per cent.
• The month of the year end for your fiscal period.

Select Your Rural Municipality (RM) of Main Farmstead

• Select the RM of the main farmstead. (The RM number will automatically display after an RM is selected.)

Select Years Farmed

• If you have not farmed in each of the previous five years remove the RM from the applicable year by selecting the - - in the drop down menu.
• If you have not farmed in each of the previous five years, you will have your reference margin calculated based on the average production margin of the three years immediately prior to the program year (2008 to 2010). If you did not farm in one or more of the 2008 to 2010 year(s), a margin will be created for the missing year based on the farm’s 2011 productive capacity.

Select Years Using Accrual Method of Accounting

• Check the boxes for any of the years in which you filed on the accrual basis to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Leaving a box unchecked will indicate cash filing for that year to the CRA.

Provide Total Year Production Margins

• If you have received your 2010 Calculation of Benefits you may enter the total year (production) margins for the 2006 – 2010 years from this statement into the applicable years.

Payments received from the 2010 Excess Moisture Program (EMP) need to be subtracted from your 2010 total margin and the adjusted value is to be entered

• The total year margins are the production margins, prior to the structure change calculation.
• For partnership operations, the total year (production) margins will need to be entered at 100 per cent. The partnership percentage entered on the first page of this calculator will later be applied to the total year margins.
• For a year that was filed using the accrual method of accounting to the CRA, the margin amount is simply calculated based on allowable income and allowable expenses. The only exceptions will be when the non-market livestock adjustment (breeding herd back out) is applied for 2006 - 2011 years.
• If you filed using the cash basis to the CRA, and you do not know your production margins for 2006 to 2010, you will need to select "next" to continue to the following pages in order to calculate your production margin for each reference year. This will include allowable income and allowable expenses and applicable information required to calculate the modified accrual adjustment.

Structural Change

A structural change may occur when there is a change in ownership, business structure, size or location of operation, farming practices, type of farming activity, method of accounting, or any other practice that may alter your production margins.

When you increase or decrease the size of your farm, adjustments are made to your reference margin so it more accurately reflects the size of your farm in the program year. This ensures that the comparison between your reference margin and your program year margin is an accurate measurement of any margin decline on your farm.

Structural changes are determined by measuring your farm’s productive capacity. For livestock, productive capacity is measured according to the type of livestock being produced. For crops, productive acres include those already producing a crop, or intended for seeding a crop which would be productive in its first year. A crop which cannot normally be harvested in its first year, or in the Program Year, may not be included in the productive capacity of your farm. See the 2011 Harmonized Form and Guide for more details on how to report your productive capacity.
Click on this link for more information about Structure Change

NOTE: The Structure Change calculation portion of the calculator includes several, but not all commodity groups and baskets. Updates will be made on an ongoing basis. If your operation’s commodity group or basket is currently not included in the calculator, your estimated government benefit will be based on the unadjusted reference margin.

Also, these calculations are based on a consistent fiscal year end for all reference and program years. If the fiscal year end reported for taxation has changed in any of the 2006 to 2011 years, the structure change calculations may not be accurate.

Crop

• In the "Crop" section, select a crop commodity group or basket by using the drop-down arrow.
• For each commodity group or basket, enter the applicable number of productive units for 2006 to 2011. This will usually be the number of acres. For commodities not measured in acres, use the unit of measurement that is standard for that commodity.
• "Unseedable Acres" (too wet or too dry to seed) in the program year, these should be included in the commodity group based on the crop you would have normally seeded. In the reference years, these should not be included.

Livestock

• In the "Livestock" section, select a livestock commodity code or group using the drop-down arrow.
• Enter the applicable number of productive units for 2006 to 2011.
• For more information on entering productive capacity, please see Section 9 of the 2011 AgriStability Harmonized Form and Guide (this link will take you to the AAFC website).

Financial Information – Income

• You will need your farming tax information that you submitted to CRA, AAFC or SCIC to complete this page
• For any years that you have supplied the unadjusted margin, you will not be required to enter the total income and expenses.

Total Allowable Income

• For each year where you already know the total allowable income for AgriStability purposes, enter the amount in the total income.
• For partnership operations, this should be entered at 100 per cent.
• For any of the years where you have entered the total allowable income, you are not required to enter any of the "Commodity Sales" or "Other Income" information.

Commodity Sales
Please enter your Allowable Income for the following:

• Select the applicable commodity codes from the drop down boxes. Enter the amounts of your commodity sales for each year.
• For a Complete List of Allowable Commodities, click on the link.
• If additional lines are needed use the "add row" button. To delete any un-necessary rows check the "Remove" box in front of the row and select "remove row".

Other Income
Please enter Other Allowable Income for the following:

Crop/Hail Insurance

• Enter the amount for each year that you received a crop and/or hail insurance payment.

Rebates for Eligible Expenses

• Record the total resales and rebates of allowable expenses you received (including GST/HST rebates), unless you have already reduced your expenses by these amounts.

Custom Feeding – Income

• Enter the total amount you received for the custom feeding of livestock for each year. 
• Custom feeding income for 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 should be entered in the applicable code in the commodity sales section above. For more information on custom feedlot operators, click on the link to the 2011 AgriStability and AgriInvest Form and Guide (this link will take you to the AAFC website).
• Note: Income and expenses generated from the custom feeding of livestock are subject to a 5 per cent adjustment for yardage fees. Yardage is considered to be rental, which is non-allowable for the AgriStability Program production margin calculation. The 5 per cent adjustment will be automatically calculated and applied.

Allowable Program Payments

• Enter the amount of program payment(s) you received. A complete list of allowable program payments can be found in the Commodity Code Guide. EMP payments are allowable in the program year but not in the reference years.

Financial Information – Expenses
Total Allowable Expenses

• For each year where you already know the total allowable expenses for AgriStability purposes, enter the amount in the total allowable expense.
• For partnership operations, this should be entered at 100 per cent.
• For any of the years where you have entered the total allowable expense, you are not required to enter any of the "Commodity Purchases" or "Direct Expenses" information.

Commodity Purchases
Please enter your Allowable Expenses for the following:

• Select the appropriate codes using the drop down boxes, and enter expenses for the purchase of commodities into each applicable year.
• Include expense amounts for purchases of commodities such as seed, plants, transplants, livestock, and marketable products. A complete list of allowable commodities can be found in the Commodity Code Guide.
• Do not include capital expenditures. An example of a capital expenditure is the purchase of trees to expand an orchard. Replacement of dead or damaged trees is considered a commodity purchase as it is part of orchard maintenance.
• Do not include the cost of seeds and plants used in personal vegetable or flower gardens.

Direct Expenses
Containers and Twine - line code 9661

• Enter the total amount you paid for material to package, contain, or ship farm produce or products in each applicable year.
• If you operated a nursery or greenhouse, include the cost of containers and pots for the plants sold.

Fertilizer and Soil Supplements - line code 9662

• Enter the total amount you paid for fertilizers used in your farming business in each applicable year.
• If you used soil supplements or other growth media, enter the amounts you paid for them here. Examples of soil supplements include mulch, sawdust, and weedmats.

Pesticides – line code 9663

• Enter the total amount you paid for herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides, and fungicides into each applicable year. Insecticides include chemicals for pest control purposes as well as any predators or parasites introduced for that use. Record the total amount you paid for chemicals used in treating water, manure, or slurry, as well as those used in disinfecting equipment and facilities.
• Seed treatment expenses that are itemized separately from the seed purchase on your original invoice should also be reported in this line code. For non-itemized invoices, the treatment expense is included as part of the commodity purchase.

Crop Insurance Premiums (crop or production) – line code 9665

• Enter the total amount of deductible premiums for any crop-related programs in each applicable year. This includes any premiums for hail insurance.
• Do not include any premiums for private, business-related, or motor vehicle insurance.

Veterinary Fees, Medicine, Breeding Fees – line code 9713

• Enter the total amount you paid for medicine for your animals and for veterinary and breeding fees in each applicable year.
• Examples include the cost of artificial insemination, embryo transplants, disease testing, and castration. If you used disposable veterinary supplies for your farming business, enter these costs here.

Minerals and Salts – line code 9714

• Enter the expenses incurred for minerals, salts, vitamins, and premixes (which are mainly minerals and vitamins) in each applicable year.
• Do not include purchases of feed under this line code.

Machinery (gasoline, diesel fuel, oil) – line code 9764

• Enter the total amount you paid for fuel and lubricant used for your farm machinery in each applicable year.

Electricity – line code 9799

• Enter only the portion of the electricity costs that directly relate to your farming business in each applicable year.

Freight and Shipping – line code 9801

• Enter the amount you paid for shipping farm inputs to your operating site and farm produce to market in each applicable year. Do not include costs incurred when trucking for someone else on this line.
• Include any amounts you paid for disposal of carcasses on this line.

Heating Fuel – line code 9802

•Enter total amount you paid for natural gas, coal, and oil to heat farm buildings in each applicable year.
• Include any amounts paid for fuel used for crop drying or greenhouses.

Arm's Length Salaries – line code 9815

• Enter the amount of gross wages you paid to your employees in each applicable year. Include the cost of board for hired help, unless the person is related to you. For more information on Non-Arm’s Length Transactions visit the AgriStability Handbook Glossary.

Storage and Drying – line code 9822

• Enter the total amount you paid for storing and drying commodities in each applicable year.
• Examples of such costs include amounts paid for storage and drying services, air treatment expenses, and the purchase of germination inhibitors and other preservative agents.

Prepared Feed – line code 9830

• Enter the total amount you paid to buy feed for your livestock in each applicable year.
• Livestock owners, custom feedlot operators, and ranch fur operators with prepared feed purchases for 2011 should be entered in the applicable code in the commodity purchases section above. For more information on prepared feed purchases, click on the link to the 2011 AgriStability and AgriInvest Form and Guide (this link will take you to the AAFC website).

Custom Feeding – line code 9831

• Enter the total amount that you paid to have your livestock custom fed in each applicable year.
• Custom feeding expense for 2011 should be entered in the applicable code in the commodity sales purchases section above. For more information on custom feedlot operators, click on the link to the 2011 AgriStability and AgriInvest Form and Guide (this link will take you to the AAFC website).
• Expenses incurred from the custom feeding of livestock are subject to a 5 per cent adjustment for yardage fees. Yardage is considered to be rental, which is non-allowable for the AgriStability Program production margin calculation. The 5 per cent adjustment will be automatically calculated and applied.

Commissions and Levies – line code 9836

• Enter the amount you paid in commissions and levies incurred during the sale, purchase, or marketing of your commodities in each applicable year. Also include amounts paid in levies to marketing boards, except those due as a result of penalties or fines you incurred.
• Producers marketing fruit or vegetables through a co-op should include any packing-and-sell expenses here.
NOTE: Agricultural contract work expenses are non-allowable expenses for AgriStability program purposes; however, a portion of the expenses may be allowable. If your contract work expense invoices are:
• itemized
• include expense amounts for arm's length labour or production input costs
• the itemized expenses have been reported on the appropriate line code on the farming income tax return

then these portions of your expenses will be allowable under the program, as reported under the applicable expense categories.

Contract Work Income

• Enter the amount of incidental farming income you received from such things as custom or contract work, harvesting, combining, crop dusting or spraying, seeding, drying, packing, cleaning, and treating seeds. Do not include income received from machinery rental.
• Contract work income is considered non-allowable for program purposes. An amount equal to 30 per cent of reported contract work income is deducted from allowable expenses, to account for expenses incurred while earning the contract work income. For more information about contract work please visit Section 6.2 of the AgriStability Handbook.

Select Inventories to Report

• For AgriStability purposes, the reference margin will be based (in whole or in part) on a modified accrual method of accounting.
• For years where total (unadjusted) margins were entered, inventories are not required.
• If you have not entered total unadjusted margins for 2006-2010 years, you must provide the necessary information (crop inventory, livestock inventory, purchased inputs, deferred income and receivables, and accounts payable).
• If you are reporting on the cash basis, to the CRA for 2011, you must provide the necessary information (crop inventory, livestock inventory, purchased inputs, deferred income and receivables, and accounts payable).

Crop Inventory
This section will need to be completed for any or all of the 2006 to 2011 years. The information should be entered based on the corresponding fiscal year indicated in the heading. For information regarding inventory codes, descriptions and required information please use the Commodity Code Guide.

If you have not entered the total change in value for this section, complete both starting and ending inventory for the fiscal year indicated. (Note – line code specific information entered in this section will not be included in margin calculations if the total change in value has been entered)

• Select the appropriate crop/grade from the drop down list.
• Enter the Starting Inventory and Ending Inventory for your fiscal period.
• If commodities were produced in the fiscal year, but were no longer on hand at the end of the fiscal year, include the appropriate crop/grade and report zero ending inventory.
• If the "Carry Forward" button is available, when selected, the ending inventory will be automatically carried forward and displayed in the following year’s opening inventory. You will then only be required to enter the following year's ending inventory.
• If additional lines are needed use the "Add Row" button. To delete any unnecessary rows, check the "Remove" box at the front of the row and select the "remove row" button.
 

Livestock Inventory

This section will need to be completed for any or all of the 2006 to 2011 years. The information should be entered based on the corresponding fiscal year indicated in the heading. For information regarding inventory codes, descriptions and required information please use the Commodity Code Guide.

If you have not entered the total change in value for this section, complete both starting and ending inventory for the fiscal year indicated. (Note – line code specific information entered in this section will not be included in margin calculations if the total change in value has been entered)

• Select the appropriate livestock description from the drop down list.
• Enter the Starting Inventory and Ending Inventory for your fiscal period.
• If the "Carry Forward" button is available, when selected, the inventory amount will be automatically carried forward and displayed in the following year’s opening inventory. You will then only be required to enter the following year’s ending inventory.
• For 2010 and 2011, cull cow inventory is to be reported as breeding cows.
• If additional lines are needed use the "Add Row" button. To delete any unnecessary rows, check the "Remove" box at the front of the row and select the "remove row" button.

Income/Expense
Includes:

• Purchased Inputs
• Deferred Income and Receivables
• Accounts Payable
• If you have not entered the total change in value for this section, complete both starting and ending dollar value for the fiscal year indicated. (Note – line code specific information entered in this section will not be included in margin calculations if the total change in value has been entered)
• These sections will need to be completed for any or all of the 2006 to 2011 years. The information should be entered based on the corresponding fiscal year indicated in the heading.
• Select the applicable commodity codes from the drop down boxes.
• Enter the applicable starting and ending dollar amounts for each fiscal year.
• If the "Carry Forward" button is available, when selected, the ending dollar amount will be automatically carried forward and displayed in the following year’s opening dollar amount. You will then only be required to enter the following year’s ending dollar amount.
• If additional lines are needed use the "Add Row" button. To delete any un-necessary rows check the "Remove" box in front of the row and select "remove row"

Crop and Livestock Inventories
Fair Market Value (FMV) and CWB Commodity Production

• Enter the Start of Year FMV of the commodity. For 2006 to 2010 years, refer to the SCIC price lists. If the FMV is not included in the Price List, enter the FMV of the commodity based on the estimated market prices. This may not require manual entry for all commodities; you are required to enter FMVs for commodities only if data entry windows are available.
• Enter the End of Year FMV of the commodity. For 2006 to 2010 years, refer to the SCIC price lists. If the FMV is not included in the Price List, enter the FMV for the commodity based on the estimated market prices at year end. This may not require manual entry for all commodities; you are required to enter FMVs for commodities only if data entry windows are available.
• For Crop Inventories, enter the quantity produced for the years indicated. This may not be required for all commodities; you are only required to enter production if data entry windows are available.

NOTE: To accurately reflect the income you receive from crops produced and sold in the program year, starting in 2007, your receivables will be adjusted to reflect any additional payments on sales you are expected to receive through the CWB above the initial cash value. Both an opening and closing amount will be included in the deferred income and receivables (if applicable) for CWB Wheat and CWB Barley. If you are filling out this calculator using your 2010 Calculation of Benefits, do not enter the CWB receivable adjustment on the deferred income and receivable indicated by code 4012.

Select Breeding Herd Back Out Years

• If you file to CRA on the accrual method for the 2006 - 2011 years and have a breeding herd, select the years to report breeding herd back reporting information. 

Breeding Livestock and Cull Breeding Herd Back Out Inventory

• Select the appropriate livestock description from the drop down list for each breeding and/or culled livestock item.
• For each breeding and/or culled breeding livestock item, enter the Starting Inventory and Ending Inventory for your fiscal period.
• For each breeding and/or culled breeding livestock code that you reported as an increase to the change in value on your Statement A, report the total value of the increase, as reported to CRA.
• For each breeding and/or culled breeding livestock code that you reported as a decrease to the change in value on your Statement A, report the total value (as a positive number) of the decrease, as reported to CRA.

Breeding Livestock and Cull Breeding Herd Back Out Missing FMV

• For each breeding and/or culled breeding livestock item, enter the Start FMV and End FMV for your fiscal period.

Summary
2011 AgriStability Reference Margins (automatically calculated)

•The "Income and Expense" are your share of the farming operation’s production margins for each year. This information comes from the Financial Information sheet.
•The "Crop Inventories", "Livestock Inventories", "Purchased Inputs", "Deferred Income and Receivables", and "Accounts Payable" represent the applicable modified accrual adjustments. These are based on the information entered in the applicable windows for each of the reference years.
• The "Deferred Income and Receivables" may include adjustments made to accurately reflect CWB income you receive from crops produced and sold in the year. Starting in 2006, your receivables will be adjusted to reflect any additional payments on sales you are expected to receive through the CWB above the initial cash value. Both an opening and closing amount will be included in the deferred income and receivables (if applicable) for CWB Wheat and CWB Barley.
• The "Breeding and Cull breeding livestock Adjustment" is the adjustment made to the program margin by removing the dollar amount reported to tax for the change in value of your breeding and culled breeding animals, and replaced with the calculated change in inventory using end-of-year price. This will only apply if you have filed on the accrual basis to CRA.
• The "Unadjusted Margins" is the total of all rows above. It is your share of the farming operations margins based on financial information, including all modified accrual adjustments.
• The "SC Adjustment" is the adjustment made to each year’s margin to account for the difference in the productive capacity of the farm in each reference year as compared to the productive capacity of the farm in the program year. The data entered in the Structure Change sheet is used to calculate this adjustment.
• The "Production Margins" are the "Unadjusted Margins" with the Structural Change Adjustment applied.
• An Olympic average calculation is used where there are 5 years of reference margin data available. The Olympic average margin is calculated by using the last five years of reference margin history, omitting the highest and lowest margins within that time period, and averaging the remaining three reference years to calculate your reference margin.
• Your program year margin is measured against your reference margin to calculate benefits. For more information about margins visit Section 6 of the AgriStability Handbook.

Summary
AgriStability Producer Benefits

• This provides a summary of the information used to calculate the estimated AgriStability benefit.
• The "Supply Managed Percent" represents the percentage of your allowable farm revenue that is derived from supply-managed commodities. This percentage is based on the three years used to determine your reference margin. If your program year margin declines by 30 per cent or less relative to your reference margin (shown as "Decline Percent"), the estimated government benefit will be reduced by the supply managed percent. For more information, refer to the AgriStability Program Handbook.
• The "Accrual Adjustments" are the summary of the change in value for the items entered in each category for the 2011 fiscal year.
• The "Deferred Income and Receivables" may include adjustments made to accurately reflect CWB income you receive from crops produced and sold in the year. Starting in 2006, your receivables will be adjusted to reflect any additional payments on sales you are expected to receive through the CWB above the initial cash value. Both an opening and closing amount will be included in the deferred income and receivables (if applicable) for CWB Wheat and CWB Barley.
• The "Breeding and Cull Breeding Livestock Adjustment" is the adjustment made to the program margin by removing the dollar amount reported to tax for the change in value of your breeding and culled breeding animals, and replaced with the calculated change in inventory using end-of-year price. This will only apply if you have filed on the accrual basis to CRA.
• The "Adjusted Program Year Margin" is the Program Year Margin after the Accrual Adjustments are applied.
• The "Margin Decline" is a comparison of the Adjusted Program Year Margin to the Reference Year Margin.

Estimated Government Benefit

• This represents your estimated AgriStability benefit.

NOTE: The results generated by this on-line calculator are not a guarantee. SCIC shall not have any liability for the accuracy of the results generated by this calculator.

The information you enter for this on-line calculator is used solely to estimate AgriStability program benefits. The on-line calculator does not identify you, and SCIC cannot access or retain the information you enter.