Fruit & Vegetable Magazine

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Ontario farmland values rise again

April 12, 2010  By Fruit & Vegetable


April 12, 2010, Guelph,
Ont – The average value of farmland in Ontario increased by 3.3 per cent in the
second half of 2009, following gains of 2.8 and 1.9 per cent in the two
previous reporting periods, according to the Farm Credit Canada (FCC) Farmland
Values Report.

April 12, 2010, Guelph,
Ont – The average value of farmland in Ontario increased by 3.3 per cent in the
second half of 2009, following gains of 2.8 and 1.9 per cent in the two
previous reporting periods, according to the Farm Credit Canada (FCC) Farmland
Values Report
.

Published twice a year, the report provides important information about changes in land values across Canada. Land
is one of the major assets required for agricultural production.

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Ontario farmland values have
been rising since 1993 and increased by an average of 0.5 per cent per month
during 2009.

Overall, the average value
of Canadian farmland increased 3.6 per cent during the last six months of 2009. Farmland values remained the same or increased in each
province.
Manitoba experienced the highest average increase at 5.9 per cent.

“Information in the
Farmland Values Report is an indicator of how the market for land is evolving
across Canada and also how producers react to market dynamics,” says Rémi Lemoine,
FCC senior vice-president of portfolio and credit risk. “This report can help
Canadians make more informed farm business management decisions about
acquiring, holding, renting or selling agriculture land.”

A recent FCC Vision Panel
survey showed that almost six in 10 producers (58 per cent) both own and rent
the land where their production is located.
The survey, completed in
November 2009 by 971 producers across the country, revealed that
almost half of producers who indicated that they
rent some or all of their land (45 per cent) rent more land now than five years
ago. However, producers from Quebec (55 per cent) and the Atlantic provinces
(60 per cent) are significantly more likely than most other provinces to report
that they are renting about the same amount of land as they were five years
ago.
For
more detail about the FCC Vision Panel survey findings, visit www.fccvision.ca/research.

“Low interest
rates, favourable grain prices and high yields generated
continued demand for Canada’s high quality farmland,” Lemoine said. “These
factors, in addition to the limited availability of quality farmland for
sale, are some of the reasons farmland values continue to increase.”

In the last three semi-annual
reporting periods, farmland values in Canada increased by an average of 5.6 per
cent in spring 2009, 2.9 per cent in fall 2009 and 3.6 per cent in spring 2010.

The FCC Farmland Values Report has been published since
1984. The complete report is available at www.farmlandvalues.ca.


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