Average farmland values for 2019 in Alberta rose at the lowest value for the entire decade, Farm Credit Canada’s (FCC) annual farmland values report for 2019 shows.
Farmland values rose by 3.3 per cent in 2019, down from from 7.4 per cent the year before. Nationally farmland values rose 5.2 per cent in 2019 — the smallest increase over the past decade.
The largest increases for Alberta were recorded in the south and central regions, while values further north showed smaller incremental increases.
The Prairie province faced several challenges in 2019 with weaker economic conditions, volatile commodity prices and adverse weather contributing to the smaller value increase, the report notes. Many areas of the province were also impacted by the September snowfall which delayed or halted harvest.
The potato growing region in the southern part of the province was a bright spot, due to increased demand from the processing sector, the report notes. Farmland values in the Lethbridge area rose 3.9 per cent. With the new Cavendish Farms processing plant producers were given an incentive to increase their irrigated potato production. Dry conditions, however, negatively impacted values for unirrigated land.
