Alberta Land Prices Jump

by | Mar 15, 2021 | Business

After recording the lowest farmland value percentage increase in 2019 at 3.3 per cent, Alberta farmland prices rose six per cent in 2020, the annual Farm Credit Canada (FCC) Farmland Values Report released on March 15, says.

Nationally farmland in Canada remained strong and stable for 2020, despite the economic turbulence of the year caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The average value of Canadian farmland increased by 5.4 per cent in 2020, slightly more than the 5.2 per cent increase reported in 2019 — Alberta recorded the third largest increase behind British Columbia and Quebec.

Improved growing and harvest conditions for 2020, along with increased grain shipments, made this year much better than the past few for Alberta, the report notes. Strong crop receipts improved the overall optimism within Alberta agriculture, while the oil and gas sector’s influence on farmland values has lessened the past few years.

Regional breakdown for Alberta:

  • Central Alberta saw the highest average farmland value increase at 9.6 per cent
  • Peace region saw an average increase of 8.2 per cent
  • Northern region saw an average increase of 3.6 per cent
  • Southern region saw the lowest average farmland value increase at 2.9 per cent
    • Irrigated land in this region, with its concentration of potato processing facilities, had an average 7.6 per cent value increase

Farmland values across the Prairies were mainly influenced by tenants purchasing land from landlords, neighbour-to-neighbour sales, producers buying or selling land to gain operational efficiencies and family farm purchases to support succession plans, the report says.

Across Canada average farmland values have increased every year since 1993 — however, increases were more pronounced from 2011 to 2015 in many different regions. Since then, Canada has seen more moderate single-digit increases in average farmland values.

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