Canadian farmland values increased at a lower rate in 2023 compared to 2022, but still posted a double-digit average increase at 11.5 per cent. The national average was 12.8 per cent in 2022, according to the FCC Farmland Values Report. The highest average provincial increases in farmland values were observed in Saskatchewan, Quebec, Manitoba and… Read More
Category: Land prices
Southwestern Ontario is home to some of Canada’s most productive farmland. In recent years, land values have climbed to dizzying heights with competition for top acres driving sales for some farms into the $40,000-per-acre range. But some of the air was let out of the value balloon in 2023, says Ryan Parker from London, Ont.-… Read More
Man, was I excited on Friday. There was an absolute buzz over whether the Toronto Blue Jays were going to sign Shohei Ohtani. The entire fan base was plane-tracking, crossing fingers, and hoping that Ohtani would take the organization to the promised land. The Blue Jays were in the mix as a finalist, along with… Read More
Farm Credit Canada (FCC) tracks changes in farmland values closely. This week, FCC published its Mid-Year Land Values report, and in it, puts overall average growth of Canadian farmland in the first six months of 2023 at 7.7 per cent. There were pullbacks in the rate of growth in some provinces — B.C., Ontario, and… Read More
The land market has provided a very stable investment opportunity for farmers for quite some time. As the industry looks forward, questions arise on what will happen to the price of land as external variables, such as rising interest rates, sticky input prices and commodity price concerns stack up. In early October, Farm Credit Canada… Read More
Even as inflation continues to grow and increasing borrowing costs have put pressure on farm incomes, farmland values across Canada rose 7.7 per cent in the first half of 2023, according to Farm Credit Canada’s Mid-Year Land Value report. Tight supply has continued to support land appreciation for now, says FCC chief economist J.P. Gervais…. Read More
No matter how you slice it, Ontario’s Ford government took liberties with the rules when it decided to re-draw the boundaries of Toronto’s Greenbelt. (You can read the auditor general’s report about how many liberties, here). A staunch supporter of farmland preservation, Peggy Brekveld, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, says that there’s no doubt… Read More
A controversial proposal to allow up to three severances off an Ontario farm property will be walked back, according to a letter sent to Ontario farm groups by Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister, Steve Clark. The decision comes after several farm groups, led by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, lobbied the government to drop the… Read More
Fourteen of Ontario’s agriculture organizations are collectively asking the provincial government to pause forward momentum of the proposed Bill 97 and the Proposed Provincial Planning Statement. “We stand in strong opposition to the 3 lot severances per farm parcel proposed in prime agricultural areas as well as other measures that weaken local farmland protection. We… Read More
Tucked into the Ontario Progressive Conservatives’ Bill 97 is a proposed change to severance allowances of farmland that the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) says could make siting of livestock farms much more difficulty. What’s more, the bill carves out increased power for Ministerial Zoning Orders in the name of housing; however, Peggy Brekveld, president… Read More
If a farm has the capacity to buy land, it’s often stymied by the lack of land for purchase, not an unwillingness to take on the work or the debt. It’s still surprising to learn that about 40 per cent of land being farmed in Canada is being rented, according to Farm Credit Canada (FCC)…. Read More
Ontario and PEI led farmland value growth for Canada in 2022, but each province showed a strong gain in value, according to the annual farmland report put out by Farm Credit Canada (FCC). As a whole, Canadian farmland value increased 12.8 per cent in 2022, an increase from 8.3 per cent growth in 2021, says… Read More
The Government of Saskatchewan has announced that rates paid by producers leasing Crown grazing land remain the same for 2023 and will not be increased. As well, growers leasing Crown land for grazing who have had to reduce stocking rates due to dry conditions are eligible to have rent reduced by up to 50 per… Read More
OPINION Travel with me to a time not long ago when the government in Ontario was of the red variety. The former premier, at one point, went so far as to also serve as agriculture minister, in an effort, one can only imagine, to show her commitment and respect for the portfolio. Kathleen Wynne’s government… Read More
Under the guise of solving the housing crisis, Ontario’s premier Doug Ford is moving to develop over 7,000 acres of prime agriculture land in the province’s Greenbelt around the city of Toronto. In exchange, the Ford government says it will set aside over 9,000 acres…somewhere else. MPP for Temiskaming-Cochrane, John Vanthof says the premier’s plan… Read More