Producers made strong bids for available land, increasing values by 12.2 per cent in Manitoba, 11.4 per cent in Alberta and 9.4 per cent in Saskatchewan, says the 2025 Farmland Values report from Farm Credit Canada.

In its report, FCC said agricultural land values were “resilient” last year and defied expectations of a downturn.

“The market remained supported by farmland’s long-term investment appeal, tight supply and strong competition from expansion-focused producers,” says the FCC report, released March 24.

“The Prairie provinces drove much of the year’s average increase (across Canada).”

Overall, the value of cultivated land jumped 9.3 per cent from coast to coast, but provinces outside of the Prairies saw weaker gains or losses in value:

• British Columbia, a 1.7 per cent decline.
• Ontario, 2.2 per cent increase.
• Quebec, 4.8 per cent gain.

FCC attributed the modest rise in Ontario to farmers becoming picky. They were willing to pay high prices for top-quality land but avoided marginal properties.

A similar situation has developed in Saskatchewan. Expanding producers are driving demand for the best land in the most productive regions.

In 2025, price increases in northeastern, northwestern and east-central Saskatchewan were around 12 per cent. Those regions produce the highest yields for key crops like canola and wheat.

In west-central Saskatchewan, where yields are lower, farmland values increased 4.8 per cent in 2025.

The average price of cropland in northeastern Saskatchewan is getting close to $5,000 per acre. That’s a massive jump from 2019, when average values in the northeast were $2,000 per acre.

Farmland realtors on the Prairies have also noticed this trend of robust demand for fertile land.

“Good land in a good area is still going up,” said Tim Hammond of Hammond Realty in Biggar, Sask.

In southern Alberta, dryland prices surged upward by a 16.4 per cent in 2025. Irrigated land, which is now at $20,000 per acre in the province, played a role in the value gains in southern Alberta.

As irrigation districts have expanded, dryland acres close to irrigated land have become more valuable, FCC said.

A major theme in the FCC report was the shortage of land for sale in multiple provinces and regions.

This could be part of an ongoing trend, for the last 15 years, where retiring farmers rent their land instead of selling.

Whatever the reason for the shortfall of properties on the market, it’s clear that supply is “tight”, said J.P. Gervais, FCC executive vice-president of ag operations.

“This is something that has been certainly documented last year, and if I’m not mistaken, the year before,” he said.

“One of the overall drivers of farmland values, how tight the supply, does matter when (it) comes to the valuations that we’re currently seeing…. Generally speaking, very tight availability of farmland (for sale).”

Pastureland also higher

The FCC report had data on pastureland values, which saw a 5.2 per cent increase across Canada thanks to stronger prices for beef cattle over the last few years.

Gains were much higher in Alberta’s Peace region and northern B.C., where values climbed 17 to 18 per cent.

Across the Prairies, Saskatchewan saw the largest increase in pastureland prices of 7.6 per cent.

The post Farmland climbs higher in spite of headwinds: Farm Credit Canada report appeared first on Farmtario.

Some regions in Ontario saw no growth in farmland value in 2025.

In its report, FCC said agricultural land values were “resilient” last year and defied expectations of a downturn.

Average cultivated farmland values in Ontario increased 2.2 per cent in 2025, compared to 3.1 per cent in 2024.

FCC attributed the modest rise in Ontario to farmers becoming picky. They were willing to pay high prices for top-quality land but avoided marginal properties.

The Northern region, at 10.6 per cent, saw a significant increase in value in 2025 averaging $5,400 per-acre, up from $4,900.

The South West region took over the top spot for most valuable land with a value of $33,700 per-acre, narrowly edging out last year’s top region of Central West with an average value of $33,200 per-acre.

Despite taking the top spot, the South West region saw zero growth value per-acre in 2024. The Central East region also saw zero growth holding at $13,100 per-acre respectively.

The Southern Region saw negative growth in 2025, slipping 1.0 per cent to $23,400 per-acre down from $23,600 per-acre in 2024.

Meanwhile, across the Prairies, farmland values continued on an upward trend in 2025, despite trade uncertainty, relatively high interest rates and hefty input costs for Canadian farmers.

Producers made strong bids for available land, increasing values by 12.2 per cent in Manitoba, 11.4 per cent in Alberta and 9.4 per cent in Saskatchewan.

“The market remained supported by farmland’s long-term investment appeal, tight supply and strong competition from expansion-focused producers,” says the FCC report, released March 24.

“The Prairie provinces drove much of the year’s average increase (across Canada).”

Overall, the value of cultivated land jumped 9.3 per cent from coast to coast, but provinces outside of the Prairies saw weaker gains or losses in value:

• British Columbia, a 1.7 per cent decline.
• Quebec, 4.8 per cent gain.

A similar situation has developed in Saskatchewan. Expanding producers are driving demand for the best land in the most productive regions.

In 2025, price increases in northeastern, northwestern and east-central Saskatchewan were around 12 per cent. Those regions produce the highest yields for key crops like canola and wheat.

In west-central Saskatchewan, where yields are lower, farmland values increased 4.8 per cent in 2025.

The average price of cropland in northeastern Saskatchewan is getting close to $5,000 per acre. That’s a massive jump from 2019, when average values in the northeast were $2,000 per acre.

Farmland realtors on the Prairies have also noticed this trend of robust demand for fertile land.

“Good land in a good area is still going up,” said Tim Hammond of Hammond Realty in Biggar, Sask.

In southern Alberta, dryland prices surged upward by a 16.4 per cent in 2025. Irrigated land, which is now at $20,000 per acre in the province, played a role in the value gains in southern Alberta.

As irrigation districts have expanded, dryland acres close to irrigated land have become more valuable, FCC said.

A major theme in the FCC report was the shortage of land for sale in multiple provinces and regions.

This could be part of an ongoing trend, for the last 15 years, where retiring farmers rent their land instead of selling.

Whatever the reason for the shortfall of properties on the market, it’s clear that supply is “tight”, said J.P. Gervais, FCC executive vice-president of agricultural operations.

“This is something that has been certainly documented last year, and if I’m not mistaken, the year before,” he said.

“One of the overall drivers of farmland values, how tight the supply, does matter when (it) comes to the valuations that we’re currently seeing…. Generally speaking, very tight availability of farmland (for sale).”

Pastureland also higher

The FCC report had data on pastureland values, which saw a 5.2 per cent increase across Canada thanks to stronger prices for beef cattle over the last few years.

Gains were much higher in Alberta’s Peace region and northern B.C., where values climbed 17 to 18 per cent.

Across the Prairies, Saskatchewan saw the largest increase in pastureland prices of 7.6 per cent.

The post Farmland value stagnates in Ontario in 2025 appeared first on Farmtario.

Realtors in Saskatchewan have noticed a shift in the market, where some properties are going up in price and others are not.

Buyers are still willing to pay a premium for productive land, but demand is much softer for mediocre cropland.

Tim Hammond, founder of Hammond Realty in Biggar, Sask., described the current situation as a “split market.”

WHY IT MATTERS: After 15 to 20 years of rising values, Canada’s land market may have entered a new phase.

“Good land in a good area, is still going up,” he said.

“Average land in an average area, it’s struggling. It is going sideways and in some cases it’s going down…. I haven’t seen a mix like this since I started in 2002.”

Hammond made his comments March 10 during a webinar hosted by Dan Aberhart, who runs Aberhart Ag Solutions in Brandon, Man.

Aberhart invited Hammond and Trent Klarenbach, a market analyst who turns Klarenbach Research in Saskatoon, to discuss farmland values on the Prairies.

A snapshot of prices will be revealed next week, when FCC releases its annual report on farmland values March 24.

In 2024, values increased 9.3 per cent year over year across Canada, including a 13.1 per cent jump in Saskatchewan.

It’s possible that FCC will report another increase in 2025, but realtors like Hammond say something has changed.

Two or three years ago, when he put cropland up for tender, Hammond would receive 10 offers.

The top three or four bids would be very close on price.

“What we’re seeing now, instead of getting 10 offers, we’re getting two or three,” he said.

“And the spread between the top bid and second highest bid is five, 10, 15 percent.… I’ve always said, land is only worth as much as the second highest bid.”

Other experts have made similar comments about demand and buyer interest.

It remains strong in certain geographic pockets, but less so in other areas.

“Farmland is still very much a regional market,” Justin Shepherd, senior economist with Farm Credit Canada, said last August.

“There could be areas that see (more) farmland value growth … but there could be other areas where there is (less) competition for that farmland, where you could see things slow down.”

Similar market for U.S. farmland?

A comparable situation has developed in the United States, where buyers are driving up the price of productive cropland while demand is weak for less fertile land.

Sellers of land, outside of the best areas, might need to lower their expectations, said a January report from Farmers National Co., a firm that manages farmland across the Midwest and Northern Plains.

It’s not necessarily a buyers market, but buyers are getting picky, said Colton Lacina, Farmers National Co. senior vice-president of real estate operations.

“(They) are carefully assessing soil quality, the percentage of tillable acres, water access and how a parcel fits into their current operations. Those details matter more than ever.”

A plateau in values would be a significant change for Canadian producers, landowners and the psychology of investors because the market has increased for nearly 20 years.

An FCC report on historical farmland values indicates that the average price increase was 10.7 per cent annually from 2007-23 across Canada.

The post Split market seen for Prairie farmland ahead of FCC 2025 values report appeared first on Farmtario.

The area is in high demand due to its proximity to the Highway 401 corridor and growing industrial hubs such as the Greater Golden Horseshoe and the Greater Toronto Area and there are lessons to learn as Ontario urban areas continue to grow into farmland.

WHY IT MATTERS: Significant pressure to grow housing and industrial areas comes into conflict with the need to maintain high-quality farmland.

In February 2024, the County of Wellington launched an urban boundary expansion review and received settlement area boundary expansion requests totalling more than 973 hectares.

One of the most affected municipalities within the county is Centre Wellington, home to the communities of Fergus, Elora, Belwood and Salem.

According to Township of Centre Wellington data, the municipality is expected to grow to a population of 58,200 by 2051, with total employment reaching 25,100. The majority of this growth will take place in the Fergus and Elora–Salem urban centres.

Under the More Homes Built Faster Act, the government of Ontario has mandated a residential construction acceleration of 1.5 million new homes in 10 years across the province.

The province has stated that, to accommodate the land needs assessment for this area, a settlement area boundary expansion of 398 hectares of residential and employment lands will be required in Centre Wellington.

In a community with a strong history of opposing rural development, farmers and politicians are making their concerns known to the province. A social media campaign has been launched to raise awareness of the risks of expanding into prime agricultural lands.

Land on the brink of development

Janet Harrop owns Harrcroft Acres with her husband, Ian, and their family just north of Fergus. She is also the past president of the Wellington Federation of Agriculture.

Harrop was among the participants in videos shared on Facebook. She believes that once land is rezoned for future development, investment in that land declines significantly.

“When farmers are unsure how long they will be able to rent land, they are less likely to invest in drainage or other improvements that would increase the land’s agronomic value,” she said.

She is concerned that land around the edge of Centre Wellington already approved for inclusion within the urban boundary, along with several parcels developers are seeking to include through the Ontario Land Tribunal, consists largely of prime agricultural land.

Harrop notes that only 0.5 per cent of Canada’s total land base comprises Class 1 soil, the highest quality classification. She adds that Wellington County accounts for three per cent of Ontario’s prime agricultural land.

She fears the expansion will affect more than access to farmland, driving up both land costs and rental prices.

“If farmers have a long-term lease with certainty, they are more willing to pay more for the land. Parcels next to the urban boundary will be viewed by the development community as long-term investments for future development and will inflate farmland values,” she said, adding that municipalities must plan a “buffer” when expanding urban boundaries.

Harrop believes the plan will not only fragment farmland but also introduce non-farming residences through surplus farm dwelling severances or additional severances on secondary agricultural land. She said this can disrupt farm equipment movement, limit future expansion due to minimum distance separation (MDS) requirements and increase conflicts with non-farm neighbours.

Also, she says, this type of expansion places strain on communities that lack infrastructure to support large-scale development.

The value of Wellington County’s soil must be recognized to keep farmers in the area, she says, noting the loss of quality farmland will drive up prices and threaten generational farming.

Harrop said growth can instead be managed through intensification.

“For example, a four-storey apartment building with 40 units versus 40 homes built on 0.5-acre lots would save 20 acres of farmland,” she said. “There also needs to be weighting based on the type of farmland being developed. Prime agricultural land should not be used to grow homes; it should be used to grow food.”

Protecting land a “societal responsibility”

Bronwynne Wilton is the Ward 5 councillor in Centre Wellington and a rural-urban planning consultant. Her ward includes one of the largest areas of farmland in the township.

She says protecting farmland should be a societal responsibility, noting residents in mixed urban-rural communities may not fully understand the impact of expansion.

Wilton acknowledges farmers face moral and financial pressure from developers.

“To ask a farmer to turn down a fairly lucrative offer is difficult,” she said, noting much farm equity is tied to land rather than the operating business. “I think a lot of farmers struggle with it, but on the other hand, that’s probably their retirement income — something passed down to their children and grandchildren.”

Wilton notes municipalities’ hands are often tied because urban boundary expansion guidelines are set by the province, including farmland classification systems that may not align with local priorities.

In a community known for civic engagement, Wilton believes awareness of farmland risks is strong.

“I think people are recognizing that we do have really good farmland, and many feel a connection to the farm community in one way or another,” she said. “People are realizing that we can’t just keep paving over farmland.”

Mike Schreiner, leader of the Green Party of Ontario, has been closely monitoring expansion plans in Wellington County. He has lived in Guelph for many years and says municipalities are pushing back against what he calls “the Ford government’s sprawl agenda” because of costs and farmland loss.

He argues the province has increasingly intervened to force boundary expansions that benefit developers.

“Wellington County is one of the Ford government’s targets despite strong local pushback,” he said. “I’ve spoken with planners, farmers and residents who want to see farms and the agricultural sector protected from expensive sprawl.”

Schreiner added that amid global trade instability, protecting rural economies is essential to safeguarding jobs and food security.

“As I developed the Protect Our Food Act, experts, planners and farmers all agreed that loss of farmland is more than just loss of land. It threatens food sovereignty, jobs, prosperity and access to fresh local food,” he said. “We need to build more affordable homes in the communities people love — and it is more affordable to do so without paving over farmland.”

He noted previous rules required comprehensive reviews before settlement boundaries could be expanded, but said the provincial government has weakened those safeguards and overridden local decisions.

“To protect Ontario’s precious farmland, this government needs to reintroduce stronger checks and balances, make it easier to build within existing urban boundaries and allow public servants to do their jobs without ministerial interference,” he said.

Schreiner added that his bill has already received support from the Township of Centre Wellington, which he says demonstrates municipalities “do not want to see their farmland paved over for expensive, low-density sprawl.”

The post Wellington County farmers push back as urban expansion threatens prime farmland appeared first on Farmtario.

While being welcomed by those working in conservation and agriculture, the moves comes as other policies are adding to, rather than detracting from, Species at Risk protection.

WHY IT MATTERS: As urban boundaries grow and farms make use of more land, there’s more risk to some species in the ecosystem.

Announced Feb. 12 by Todd McCarthy, minister of the environment, conservation and parks, a new $20 million investment into Species at Risk is designed to support community-led conservation initiatives, including education, invasive species control and ecosystem services.

A total of 15 new projects and 31 multi-year initiatives are receiving funding under a new Species Conservation Program. Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS), Ducks Unlimited and the Ontario Land Trust Alliance are among the recipients. The Species Conservation Program replaces Ontario’s pre-existing Species at Risk Stewardship Program, which McCarthy says was operating with a quarter of the new budgeted amount.

“Under the new Species Conservation Program, Ontario has quadrupled its investment in species conservation, expanding the impact of community‑driven projects in every corner of the province,” says McCarthy, in the Feb. 12 press release. “By making strategic investments to support experienced conservation leaders, we are taking action to restore habitat, support species recovery efforts and protect Ontario’s rich biodiversity for generations to come.”

New to the Species Conservation Program is an allowance for funding to be used in land procurement. Bryan Gilvesy, chief strategy officer for ALUS, says the allowance will support the organization’s efforts to significantly build on the number of on-farm ecological goods and services projects. Currently, ALUS has partnerships with landowners across 11 different Ontario communities.

“That’s our proposal, that we could preserve another 4,700 acres, and that’s across a few hundred farms,” says Gilvesy. “Farmers decide if they want to participate. We go where farmers rise up and form a steering committee. Some communities are ahead of the game and some have more opportunities.”

Asked what more the province could do to support ALUS in Species at Risk conservation, Gilvesy says the “high-level ask” is for government to continue seeing farmers as “environmental solution providers.”

“They’re a key cog to counteracting the explosive growth we’ve seen across several communities.”

Tom Nudds, conservation biologist and professor emeritus in the University of Guelph’s department of integrated biology, agrees the $20 million Species Conservation Program investment is welcome news.

“It’s hard to argue with what they’re doing. Funding numbers like that for conservation in this day and age, especially when a lot of the environmental agenda is at risk, when you get news like that investment you got to be grateful,” says Nudds. “To the extent these organizations are doing extension work, which has been declining for decades – it’s a great way to put the money into the community.”

Long-term challenges to managing endangered species

A critical barrier to species conservation remains, however counterintuitively, in the form of Ontario’s Endangered Species Act.

Upon its introduction in 2007, Nudds says the Endangered Species Act was “particularly egregious” in penalizing landowners if certain species were identified on a given property. While exemptions for agriculture were adopted in relatively short order, the Act further damaged trust between farmers and the conservation sector.

“Simple presence-absence data drives most of the threat status for these species. If we can’t get people to get out on land to do that, let alone to do projects and so forth, it’s still a highlight, not random samples of what’s out there. Because people have long memories about what happened about the Endangered Species Act and that arrest potential, I don’t see with these most recent announcements what’s being done on that,” says Nudds.

“This investment is all good, and we shouldn’t forget that. But I’m not sure it scales to the need. We’re not entirely sure what the need is in the first place, because we have to use the data on hand.”

Nudds also points to another contradictory policy within the Endangered Species Act — specifically, the government’s move to redefine habitats for at-risk species under 2025’s Bill 5.

In narrowly defining habitat as the area in which an animal dens in, for example, the government’s policy no longer accounts for the broader area that animal moves through to forage, look for mates or find improved places to live.

“If that habitat is only the den or nest and some small area around … it seems to me the habitat is already compromised if you use that definition of habitat. The government did a very effective job of imposing factors that reduce the quality of habitat,” says Nudds.

“How are we going to measure habitat quality and remove factors pressuring it, if they’ve defined it in a way that seriously diminishes quality?”

The post Ontario provides $20 million to conservation groups for Species at Risk appeared first on Farmtario.

Last year may have been one of the best years yet for those in the agritourism trade.

What that looks like and what’s driving interest in farm experiences has changed, however.

Why it matters: There are farm diversification opportunities in agritourism while consumers are focused on authenticity and buying Canadian.

“From what I heard, this past season was one of the busiest for agritourism operators. Definitely not a drop,” says Kevin Vallier, chief executive officer for Agritourism Ontario.

“The spends on farms (are) up. Attendance is up, generally speaking, across the province. And I think a lot of people, given the political climate — especially across the border — people want to stay in Ontario.”

Joanne Wolnik, executive director of Ontario’s Southwest Regional Tourism Organization, says surveys of agritourism tourists across her organization’s operational jurisdiction indicate the number of U.S. tourists has dropped. Like Vallier, though, she says the number of Ontarians visiting farms is “holding steady” despite inflation and other economic pressures.

“From our primary survey, nature and local food are big travel motivators right now. People want to experience nature and culinary. So, whether that be through farm experiences, tastings, local food trails through outdoor environments — I think that has really good alignment,” says Wolnik.

“Small-town and rural escapes are growing in appeal as well … and value for money and simplicity are top of mind for people.

“There’s higher intention of doing day trips with lesser number of overnights.”

Part of the impetus driving the desire for rural escapes, nature and simplicity appears to be technology and the complexity of modern life. Citing the Expedia Group’s 2026 “Trends in Travel” report, Wolnik points to “JOMO” — the joy of missing out, as opposed to a fear of missing out — as a common travel motivator for those interested in “farm charm” and farm stays.

“That’s when people are wanting to be disconnected from their phones, from the internet. Wellness continues to be one that’s growing as a whole,” Wolnik says. “They both beautifully align with agritourism. When it comes to operators who are looking to market, when they consider what their messaging is, those are things they can allude to.”

Diversification and red tape

The recent introduction of legislation to better protect agritourism businesses from frivolous lawsuits — and stop double-digit increases in insurance premiums, by proxy — was a significant step forward in creating an environment where farms could diversify with agritourism, says Vallier.

“It doesn’t mean your liability insurance premiums are going to plummet. But what we hoped and what the goal was is it would stop those 20, 30, 40 per cent increases. It would allow some folks to get insurance coverage that couldn’t. And then, over time, we hope that the cost of getting liability insurance will decrease.”

Vallier adds results from Agritourism Ontario’s yet-to-be-published economic growth study indicate 71 per cent of Ontario farmers offer agritourism in some form and 58 per cent of Agritourism Ontario’s membership expect the number of agritourism ventures to increase going forward.

“The interesting thing is some farm owners do agritourism but don’t even realize it,” says Vallier.

“There may be people selling a little bit of produce at the end of the farm driveway. That’s agritourism but they may not see it that way. Theres a really complicated definition of what agritourism is, that the Global Agritourism Network came up with. But I’m a pretty simple guy so I like to say it’s any farm that welcomes the public onto their property.”

For Wolnik, agritourism ventures offer another means of diversifying farm businesses, particularly involving the next generation and in succession planning. Local government restrictions — including those specifically designed to preserve farmland — can be a particularly pernicious barrier to such diversification, though.

“Anecdotally, we’ve talked to people who have spent years trying to add certain experiences onto the farm to welcome people, and it just takes time because they do have to go through these processes that what they’re offering is safe for visitors. Needless to say, when you’re years in the making of something that you’re trying to build new revenue streams from, it’s tough,” Wolnik says.

“It’s expensive, it takes time, it’s not always a clear process when you’re not used to doing it. It’s also different based on the municipality you’re in, the health unit your apart of.”

Vallier says about half of his organization’s membership report challenges with local bylaws and restrictive policies.

“It’s not about protecting the farmland, it’s about protecting the farmer,” says Vallier, citing a phrase employed by an Agritourism Ontario member.

“If municipalities are going to implement all kinds of fees and regulations and red tape, then the next generation that’s watching their parents go through all their headaches when they’re just trying to grow their business — they’re out. They don’t want to do it. Now you’ve got 70- or 80-year-old folks that don’t have anybody to take the farm over. So, what do they do? They end up selling it. The irony is, municipalities and regions, this isn’t their intent. But they put in all these restrictions because they think it’s keeping farmland, when in fact sometimes it has the opposite outcome.”

Challenges aside, both Vallier and Wolnik reiterate Ontario’s agritourism sector faces significant opportunity, and expanding the diversity and number of ways the public can connect with agriculture and nature also brings ancillary benefits.

“The benefit of having people come onto the farm is so many people have never set foot on an active working farm before. They’re getting that education on where their food comes from. Sometimes they get to see how it’s processed, produced. That education piece is huge. A lot of time, they probably don’t even realize they’re getting that education walking around, having fun,” says Vallier.

“They’re getting that appreciation for local Ontario farms, how they operate and their importance.”

The post A good year for Ontario agritourism appeared first on Farmtario.

Pockets of significant value jumps, and even retreating prices, were also features of the latest Southwestern Ontario Land Values report from London-based Valco Consultants.

Published annually, the report provides an overview of both farmland values and the economic context within which changes in value occur, across Huron, Perth, Oxford, Middlesex, Elgin, Lambton, Kent, Essex, Brue, Grey and Wellington counties.

WHY IT MATTERS:

Farmland values affect how farmers plan for their businesses and can affect their ability to expand and grow.

Ryan Parker, a Valco partner and author of the report, said lack of demand in some areas — southwest of London and along Lake Erie, for example — was showing up as expired listings rather than in sold prices. Overall, the number of listings was “up significantly from three years ago, as is the number of farms offered for sale but do not sell.” This coincided with tightening margins in the crop sector.

The Valco trend follows FCC farmland values reporting for 2025.

“The situation could culminate in a couple of ways,” Parker wrote. “One way would be that vendors lower their expectations and sell these farms for less, which will have a downward impact on overall farmland values. Conversely, demand could increase due to any number of factors (most likely a combination of higher crop prices and lower interest rates).

“Looking to the year ahead, I do expect 2026 to bring much more of the same … the key factor will be the response from vendors.”

In a later interview, Parker said instances of lower sale prices and failure to sell are, at least in part, a result of “vendor expectation getting out of line.”

“Vendors would hear a farm sell for $20,000 (per acre), then instantly say, ‘I want $22,000.’ And that was working,” he said. “I do think there is quite a bit of stuff listed not selling. If it was listed more sharply it might; I do think that’s a pretty big part of it.”

With a mass of farmer retirements in the coming years, Parker said it’s likely many farms will begin selling in larger blocks — 300 or 500 acres at a time, for example — rather than individual 50- or 100-acre lot sales.

“In 10 or 15 years, maybe we’ll see that 500-acre block, maybe that guy who’s 75 years old, no debt and no next generation. At some point, he’s going to have to sell,” Parker said. However, he also wondered whether the retention of farmland by non-farming family — a practice he assessed to be more common in the United States — might also become more common here.

“The United States always seems to have chatter about legacy land — land that’s been owned for multiple generations, where they have not lived on or farmed that land. We do not have a lot of that in Ontario. I do wonder if that will become more of a strategy that advisors will push some estate clients into,” Parker said. “If we do get a flush of sales, maybe that’s something that can ease that flow a bit.”

In light of global trade tensions, Parker also said “anything that stresses margins” will have an impact on how land values change — although, at least so far, Ontario farm country appears to be weathering the storm.

Valco Consultants’ Southwestern Ontario 2025 land value report highlights:

• $27, 258 – average per acre value across all 11 counties in 2025.
• $6,000 – average per acre value across all 11 counties in 2010.
• $38,000 – average per acre value in Perth and Oxford.
• $20,000 – average per acre value in Essex County.
• 10.7 per cent – average annual value change from 2010 to 2025.
• 2.7 per cent – overall value increase from 2024 to 2025.

The post Southwestern Ontario farmland values up 2.7 per cent in 2025 appeared first on Farmtario.

Pockets of significant value jumps, and even retreating prices, were also features of the latest Southwestern Ontario Land Values report from London-based Valco Consultants. Published annually, the report provides an overview of both farmland values and the economic context within which changes in value occur, across Huron, Perth, Oxford, Middlesex, Elgin, Lambton, Kent, Essex, Brue, Grey and Wellington counties.

WHY IT MATTERS: Farmland values affect how farmers plan for their businesses and can affect their ability to expand and grow.

Ryan Parker, a Valco partner and author of the report, said lack of demand in some areas — southwest of London and along Lake Erie, for example — was showing up as expired listings rather than in sold prices. Overall, the number of listings was “up significantly from three years ago, as is the number of farms offered for sale but do not sell.” This coincided with tightening margins in the crop sector.

The trend follows FCC’s farmland values report for 2025.

“The situation could culminate in a couple of ways. One way would be that vendors lower their expectations and sell these farms for less, which will have a downward impact on overall farmland values. Conversely, demand could increase due to any number of factors (most likely a combination of higher crop prices and lower interest rates).”

Ryan Parker
Valco Consultants

“Looking to the year ahead, I do expect 2026 to bring much more of the same … the key factor will be the response from vendors.

Speaking in a later interview, Parker said instances of lower sale prices and failure to sell are, at least in part, a result of “vendor expectation getting out of line.”

“Vendors would hear a farm sell for $20,000 (per acre), then instantly say, ‘I want $22,000.’ And that was working,” he said. “I do think there is quite a bit of stuff listed not selling. If it was listed more sharply it might, I do think that’s a pretty big part of it.”

With a mass of farmer retirements in the coming years, Parker said it’s likely many farms will begin selling in larger blocks — 300 or 500 acres at a time, for example — rather than individual 50- or 100-acre lot sales.

“In 10 or 15 years, maybe we’ll see that 500-acre block, maybe that guy who’s 75 years old, no debt and no next generation. At some point, he’s going to have to sell,” said Parker. However, he also wondered whether the retention of farmland by non-farming family — a practice he assessed to be more common in the United States — might also become more common.

“The United States always seems to have chatter about legacy land. Land that’s been owned for multiple generations, where they have not lived on or farmed that land. We do not have a lot of that in Ontario. I do wonder if that will become more of a strategy that advisors will push some estate clients into,” said Parker. “If we do get a flush of sales, maybe that’s something that can ease that flow a bit.”

In light of global trade tensions, Parker also said “anything that stresses margins” will have an impact on how land values change. Although, at least so far, Ontario farm country appears to be weathering the storm.

The post Southwestern Ontario farmland values up 2.7 per cent in 2025 appeared first on Farmtario.

Why it matters: Mining aggregate can permanently alter farmland productivity and the watershed systems that supply farms and communities.

Strada Aggregates has applied to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) to expand its existing Melancthon Quarry site under Ontario’s Aggregate Resources Act. The proposal would allow a 123.7-hectare extraction pit and a 65.7-hectare quarry within the current 149-hectare footprint, blasting about 200 feet below the water table and hauling two million tonnes of aggregate annually.

Strada’s existing Pits 1, 2, and Melancthon Pit Extension licenses operate as a single pit for sand, gravel, and bedrock extraction above the water table only.

“Blasting and dewatering threaten to alter water flows, degrade wetlands, and reduce biodiversity,” wrote the Melancthon Against Quarry (MAQ) group in a Nov. 3 letter addressed to the MNRF, Strada and the Township of Melancthon.

“Limestone dust, which is alkaline, coats vegetation and soil, disrupting photosynthesis and altering soil chemistry. The result is reduced agricultural productivity and degraded natural habitats.”

The Ontario Farmland Trust (OFT) warns that aggregate mining permanently weakens farmland. A 2020 OFT report, ‘Impacts of Aggregate Mining on Farmland,’ cited an 2010 Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources study showing 93 per cent of aggregate deposits near high-demand areas overlap with farmland and natural features.

“Even if the land is rehabilitated back to a condition where agriculture is possible, it can never be as productive as it was before,” said the report. “The horizons of the soil have been destroyed, and the soil is no longer ideal for growing crops.”

This isn’t a case of blind “not-in-my-backyard” opposition. Dufferin County is no stranger to aggregate extraction operations.

Local opposition argues that the quarry threatens regional water systems and lacks transparency regarding blasting impacts and increased traffic.

MAQ said the project risks degrading water supplies from Melancthon to Mulmur, Shelburne, Alliston, Angus, Collingwood and Georgian Bay because the headwaters feed major rivers in Southern Ontario, including the Nottawasaga, Grand, Credit, Noisy, Mad, Pine and Boyne Rivers.

These waterways support sensitive ecosystems, including Brook trout habitats, that could face a 30 to 50 per cent reduction in stream flow during the dry season, according to independent hydrogeological models.

Jeannette McFarland, of Headwaters Community Trust (HCT), an organization dedicated to protecting the natural environment in the affected region, said Ontario has 6,000 licensed quarries and pits in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, with reserves to last at least 38 years without any new quarries.

“Water is in your backyard. It’s everyone’s problem,” said McFarland. “Once we start messing with it (the watershed) and diverting it, somebody might get the flooded fields, but you get the drought.”

That’s the message she’ll deliver to local municipalities, the Dufferin Federation of Agriculture, and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, leading up to the proposal’s Nov. 10 public comment deadline.

In 2023, Strada signed a historic community engagement agreement with the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce (NDACT), pledging transparency and cooperation. In return, NDACT agreed to oppose applications only when science demonstrated environmental harm.

MAQ claims trust eroded after hydrogeology research expert Garry Hunter’s January 2025 peer review report contradicted Strada’s findings and was dismissed.

“The site plans are the legal instrument, and you have to be absolutely reading every word on there, every detail,” Hunter told Melancthon residents at a Nov. 4 meeting in Horning’s Mills.

He said Strada hasn’t investigated or recognized the geotechnical constraints of a quarry approximately twice as deep as any existing one in the Niagara Escarpment landform.

This includes an aquitard—a low-permeability layer typically composed of clay, silt, or non-porous rock—mid-quarry that significantly restricts water flow in the subterranean stream essential to supplying Horning’s Mills town wells.

Redirecting this flow would lead to flooding of farmers’ fields and other areas.

“The strategy, I’m sure, from the applicants is to just keep throwing these reports out and hoping everybody will get tired and go away,” said Hunter.

MAQ also accuses Strada of reversing earlier assurances that I would not apply to blast below the water table.

“But now, this is exactly what it has done,” MAQ wrote. “This is part of a pattern of behaviour suggests that Strada is unwilling to engage transparently with the community. The Ministry cannot ignore this history when evaluating the company’s assurances.”

The company’s permit request to take up to five million litres of water a day for a decade to wash the aggregate, a Category 3 permit indicating high potential for environmental interference, has further raised concerns.

Mono Deputy Mayor Fred Nix told the Orangeville Banner that Dufferin County council will object to the application, with the lower-tier municipalities asked to follow suit.

Kyle Seeback, Conservative MP for Dufferin-Caledon, requested a clear, public response to 24 questions covering several application concerns in an Oct. 31 letter to Strada officials, including:

• withholding data such as the Model Virtual Transient Flows (monthly), streamflow monitoring results, private well data, and the Community WELLness Survey, despite repeated community requests.
• guidance on economic considerations related to jobs or community investments.
• potential environmental impacts within Ontario’s greenbelt.
• water-testing timelines, as well as notification or remediation protocols if contaminants are detected.

He said, given that the Melancthon site is situated within a highly vulnerable aquifer area, there is a noticeable lack of comprehensive documentation from the aggregate company confirming that groundwater quantity or quality will not be adversely affected, as required by the local Official Plan.

“Residents of Dufferin-Caledon have engaged in good faith to understand the implications of this project,” he wrote. “It is now Strada’s responsibility to match that good faith with full transparency and accountability.”

In a Nov. 6 open letter to the community, he said Strada responded, stating “it would not address individual inquiries through the media,” which left Seeback no alternative but to object to the company’s Class A licence application.

“Only with complete and accessible information can our community – and I as its Member of Parliament – fairly assess this proposal,” Seeback concluded.

The post Melancthon faces a new quarry fight over water, environment and farmland risks appeared first on Farmtario.

According to the OCC, small businesses – those with fewer than 100 employees – account for 98% of Canadian enterprises and employ approximately 11 million people nationwide. That’s a lot of jobs and a significant chunk of the Canadian economy, making small business a sector worth paying attention to.

To succeed and grow, Ontario small businesses of all kinds need government investment in connectivity (strong trade relationships, resilient supply chains, ensuring flow of goods & services); building capacity to increasing innovation, competitiveness and growth; affordability to help address inflation, debt and rising costs for housing, inputs and labour; and sustainability (supporting continuity, longevity, investment in local economies).

Beyond that, changes to taxation, as well as infrastructure investment, red tape reduction to simplify supports and services and better access to workers are also important needs.

It’s no different for Ontario farmers and farm businesses.

My family and I farm near Thunder Bay, where we raise poultry and beef cattle and grow produce that we sell directly to consumers and at local markets. I’m also a provincial director with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), the largest organization in our province that represents farmers.

We work on behalf of farmers and rural communities – and some of our biggest priority asks are around taxation, red tape reduction, infrastructure investment, access to labour and affordability.

Most Ontarians don’t see farms as small businesses, but they are – even if they are different from retail, trades, suppliers or service providers. Farmers are entrepreneurs who manage budgets, make investments, hire staff, build relationships with customers and suppliers, and market their products.

At our family market, our customers see that we’re a family-run business — and the small businesses we buy from and sell to in our community know it too. What’s often missing, however, is that broader public understanding that farming is both a livelihood and a business.

Farmers sometimes struggle with this mindset shift, too. We know how to produce food, raise livestock or grow grain crops, but we also need to sell the fruits of our labour, tell our story, and promote our products and our role in the community, from donating food to events to supporting sports teams, for example.

But just like many of Ontario’s other small businesses, we face challenges that make it harder for us to grow. One of the biggest is red tape.

On our farm, whenever we want to start a new project, whether it’s improving drainage or building a pond, the paperwork and many different approvals we must have in place just to start can be overwhelming.

Government grants and programs are meant to help, but they’re often so complicated that it’s hard to justify the time investment for the small amount of support offered. Quite simply, if government wants small businesses, including farms, to flourish, it has to be easier to access funding, we need less, not more bureaucracy and paperwork, and we need real incentives rather than regulatory or legislative roadblocks.

This is particularly critical in Northern Ontario, where distances are greater, the population is less dense, and infrastructure isn’t as well developed as elsewhere in Ontario. If we want to see growth and renewal in Northern Ontario agriculture and encourage the next generation of farmers to come home and build their future here, we need simpler processes, fairer taxation, better infrastructure, and less red tape.

As we celebrate Small Business Week, let’s remember that farms are part of that small business backbone. Every time you visit a local farmers’ market, buy Ontario-grown food or farm products, or support a local business, you’re helping to strengthen both our economy and our rural communities.

The post Ontario farms are a small business backbone but red tape delays and obstacles hinder growth appeared first on Farmtario.