A postal survey of farm operators across Canada was conducted to evaluate the direct and short-term costs or losses incurred in the agricultural sector as a result of local random electrical supply interruptions. Farms were categorized according to Statistics Canada's Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) of farm types. The group and subgroup sample sizes were selected to reflect their relative importance to the various geographical regions across Canada. Most Canadian utilities which serve farm customers participated in the project. The results obtined from this survey provide cost-of-interruption estimates and variations as functions of user and interruption characteristics. User characteristics include SIC farm type, yearly electrical consumption and peak demand, availability and size of backup power, geographic region in Canada, and demographic information. Interruption characteristics include frequency, duration, and time of occurrence of the interruption. Interruption cost estimates vary among SIC groups and among Canadian geographical regions, and are presented on a cost per interruption basis as well as on consumption- and demand-normalized bases. Comparison with other sectors reveals that, to a large extent, agricultural sector costs are similar in order of magnitude to residential sector costs. As with other sectors, caution is required in the application of representative sector costs because of cost variations by sector subcategory and load mix considerations. 13 Refs., 13 figs., 40 tabs.