Alberta farmland averaging more than $2,500 per acre

Farmland values across Canada rose by 7.9 per cent in 2016

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

Producers in Alberta are paying an average of $2,500 per acre of farmland, according to Alberta Agriculture and Forestry.

That number reflects the largest major peak since the early 1980s, according to Aaron Lawson, program assistant with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry.

“Farmland values rose rapidly in the 1970s but were met with an eventual crash in the 1980s,” Lawson told Call of the Land on June 13. “It’s been a strong run when you consider (during) the last major peak in 1982, prices topped out around $470 per acre.”

Farmland prices across the country increased by 7.9 per cent in 2016, according to Farm Credit Canada’s (FCC) 2016 Farmland Values Report.

Alberta’s farmland values rose by 9.5 per cent, according to the report.

Alberta farmland is divided into four regions:

• The Peace region experienced a 7.7 per cent increase
• Farmland values in the Northern region rose by 11.8 per cent
• Central farmland values increased by 8.6 per cent and
• Land in Southern Alberta rose by 9.0 per cent, according to FCC’s report.

Farmland prices in the province continue to rise but the rate of rise appears to be slowing, according to Lawson.

Farmland values vary across the province.

Farmland in Red Deer averaged about $4,019 per acre in 2016, compared to land Wetaskiwin, which averaged $2,851 per acre.

Soil types found in specific areas can also contribute to farmland values.

“Counties such as Taber and Lethbridge held the highest average farmland values in 2016, reaching over $5,800 per acre,” Lawson said. “One of the main reasons for this (value) is that these areas are mostly in the black soil zone. More productive soil can be higher valued.”

Access to irrigation and proximity to city centres can also play a role in farmland values, says Lawson.