Reading Time: 3 minutes Rising farmland values and higher interest rates have swung the affordability pendulum in favour of renting, not buying, farmland.
Renting land better than buying for cash flow: FCC
Each farm needs to make the decision themselves, but a bit of analysis can help when choosing
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
Reading Time: 2 minutes 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 […] Read more
Kazakhstan’s president orders ban on foreign ownership of farmland
Reading Time: < 1 minute Almaty | Reuters — Kazakhstan will permanently ban foreigners from owning or renting farmland in the vast central Asian nation, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Thursday, ending a lengthy dispute that once prompted anti-government protests. Kazakhstan is a major producer of grains, oilseeds and meat in the former Soviet region sandwiched between China and Russia […] Read more
Tighter regulations take effect for B.C. farmland reserve
Local governments' expanded role to take effect this fall
Reading Time: 2 minutes New regulations governing how — or if — changes can be made to land’s status within British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) are now in force, but local governments get more prep time for their expanded role. The province on Thursday announced amendments to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) Act — having received royal assent […] Read more
Zimbabwe to give white farmers 99-year leases
Reading Time: < 1 minute Harare | Reuters — Zimbabwe will issue 99-year leases to white farmers, according to a government circular, after new President Emmerson Mnangagwa said he would end discrimination along racial lines in agriculture. Fewer than 400 white farmers are still operating in the southern African nation, after former president Robert Mugabe’s government evicted more than 4,000 […] Read more
Ukraine’s parliament extends ban on farmland sales
Reading Time: < 1 minute Kiev | Reuters — The Ukrainian parliament voted on Thursday to extend a ban on the sale of agricultural land by one year, delaying what financial backers say is a key reform essential to Ukraine’s long-term economic growth. The bill was backed by 236 lawmakers, narrowly over the 226 required to pass. Currently Ukraine’s more […] Read more
Flood warning
Will Canada’s land market drown in a torrent of new listings as more farmers get to retirement age? The truth is… nobody knows
Reading Time: 9 minutes We’ve all heard the predictions. They say that with so many of our farmers reaching their 60s and 70s all at the same time, we’re soon going to see the biggest rush of land onto the market that this country has ever witnessed. Will it happen? Will the land market get flooded sometime in the […] Read more
Sizing up the farm
Lane Stockbrugger is betting that the age of the family farm has got a long ways to go yet
Reading Time: 7 minutes It was in the wide-open spaces of Saskatchewan where the trend was perhaps most apparent a few short years ago. A one-two combination had suddenly brought a lot of new attention to farming and farmland. First, crop prices spiked, creating attractive margins for the first time in a generation. Then, predictably, farmland followed suit, as […] Read more
Australia tightens rules over foreign buying of farmland
Reading Time: < 1 minute Sydney | Reuters –– Australia tightened rules on Wednesday over foreign ownership of its agricultural land amid concerns that it is losing control of its own food security, slashing the amount beyond which land purchases would require regulatory approval. From March 1, foreign purchases of agricultural land over A$15 million (C$14.51 million) will be subject […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
