Canadian money.

Farm equity, asset values up in 2023: StatCan

Farms' ability to pay debts declined but balance sheet remains strong

The total equity of the Canadian farm sector rose nearly eight per cent in 2023 while farm assets rose more than seven per cent according to Statistics Canada’s 2023 balance sheet.

The average increase in value of cultivated Canadian farmland was 11.5 per cent in 2023, and there is clear evidence that the cost of owning land in some areas now outstrips its income generation ability.

Opinion: Diversity may buffer risk of farmland buys

Should farmers consider ecological diversity as a risk management tool?

Glacier FarmMedia – It’s the time of year that farmland often changes hands. This spring, there is an increase of sales in certain sectors, driven by land stress and owners’ inability to weather another financial or literal storm. Many of these properties are monocultures or singularly focused production units and highly dependent on one source


A significant amount of liquidity for grain farms comes from harvest still in the bin.

Are farm finances on a slippery slope?

Canadian agriculture’s balance sheet is strong, but eroding margins and rising costs may temper producers’ optimism

At the end of 2017, Canadian farm debt topped $100 billion. At the time, it was a bigger number than the national debt of 135 countries, noted Country Guide columnist Gerald Pilger. The climb hasn’t stopped. The figure rose steadily since crossing the $100-billion threshold. As of 2022, the most recent year on Statistics Canada’s


Ari Westhaver of the NFU demonstrating on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 22, 2023. (Jonah Grignon photo)

NFU takes demand for ban on investor ownership to Parliament Hill

Organization's youth caucus concerned amid ‘transition crisis’

Members of the National Farmers Union (NFU) gathered on Parliament Hill Wednesday to demand a ban on investor ownership of farmland. The demonstration was organized by the NFU Youth Caucus and Farm Workers’ Working Group. The goal was to demand protection of food sovereignty and help farmers, especially young ones, gain more access to farmland.


Real estate apps are already big business in residential markets. If they cut transaction costs, why not in agriculture too?
 Photo: Getty Images

U.S. Lawmakers seek to limit corporate, foreign ownership of farmland

Farm groups, lawmakers are concerned that foreign, investor ownership is driving up prices and threatening national security

Washington | Reuters – U.S. lawmakers from both parties are pushing legislation that would limit who can own American farmland, with a latest effort from Democratic Senator Cory Booker aimed at curbing corporate ownership. Farm groups and lawmakers are concerned that land buys by investors and foreign countries are driving up farmland prices and threatening

(Shotbydave/iStock/Getty Images)

Buy or rent? Land rent-to-price ratio can help farmers decide

FCC sees current ratios on farmland as (roughly) stable

Higher interest rates don’t seem to be affecting the ratio between land values and land rental costs — at least, not yet. Farm Credit Canada’s latest analysis of farmland rental prices says they’re roughly maintaining their traditional linkage, says J.P Gervais, the organization’s chief economist. “We were curious to see whether that would bring up

farmland for sale

Comment: Growing farmland inequality in Prairies a problem for all Canadians

Farmers are uneasy about the ballooning acres of investor-owned farmland, and they’re right to be

Real estate is a hot topic in Canada. Most Canadians are acutely aware of how home prices and rents have skyrocketed in the last 15 years or so. In large cities, investor ownership of condos and houses has attracted enough attention that the federal government was prompted to crack down on foreign buyers. Since 2014,


photo: dave bedard

Manitoba farmland values up 11.2 per cent

Prairie provinces all show double-digit increases in farmland values

Average Manitoba farmland prices were up 11.2 per cent in 2022 — slightly below the Canadian average increase of 12.8 per cent. The data was released in a Farm Credit Canada report March 13 and represents the largest increase the province has seen since 2015, when prices rose 12.4 per cent. This year’s increase follows jumps of

“We have not yet seen the full impact of higher interest rates on the demand for farmland.” J.P. Gervais.  Graphic: Farm Credit Canada

Farmland values exceed expectations

Ontario leads the country with 19.4 per cent increase

Average farmland prices were up 12.8 per cent in Canada in 2022, the largest increase seen since 2014 when the increase was 14.3 per cent. The increase follows gains of 8.3 per cent in 2021 and 5.4 per cent in 2020. J.P. Gervais, FCC’s chief economist, said the numbers were a little bit of a