The average value of Canadian farmland continued its steady climb in 2017.

Farm Credit Canada (FCC) released their 2017 Farmland Values Report Monday, April 23 which says, the average value of Canadian farmland increased 8.4 per cent.

This increase is greater than the increase in farmland value seen in 2016, but FCC's Chief Agricultural Economist J.P. Gervais, says it's not the beginning of a new trend.

"First we had the national average increase in 2017 just being half a per cent higher than what we saw in 2016. I think it's rather a sign of a stable and strong farm economy."

FCC has been publishing land value reports for 32 years which show average farmland values have increased every year since 1993.

"With the steady climb of farmland values, now is a good time for producers to review and adjust their business plan to reflect variable commodity prices and slightly higher interest rates, assess their overall financial position and focus on increasing productivity,” Gervais says. “It’s also a good idea to have a risk management plan in place to protect your business against unforeseen circumstances and events.”

The report provides information about each Province from January 1 to December 31 of 2017, and for the first time provides a value range in terms of price per acre.

In Southern Alberta, the value of farmland increased 11.4 per cent last year to $5,461 per acre.

The report says, this is due to the lack of rainfall on dryland, offset by pockets of increased land values due to competition among farm operations, as well as irrigated land seeing a steady to increased demand combined with limited supply.

The lowest per cent increase in Alberta was the Northern region which was a 0.4 per cent increase in farmland value.

The report shows this is because of challenging harvests the last two season in the region due to poor weather.

You can view the full report here, 2017 FCC Farmland Values Report

 

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