Reading Time: 2 minutes Buying farmland became more costly in 2024, according to Farm Credit Canada.
Farmland becoming less affordable: FCC
Summer Series: So many landlords
[Land] Can a long-term business be built on short-term contracts? Jeff Barlow keeps his farm business stable while renting land from 43 different owners
Reading Time: 7 minutes Jeff Barlow’s 4,200-acre farm is near the town of Binbrook, about 30 km south of Hamilton, Ontario. “Technically, within the city limits,” he says. Barlow and his father grow soybeans, corn and soft red winter wheat with help from employees, Jeff’s three teenage sons, and support from Jeff’s wife, Dianne, who works off the farm […] Read more
Summer Series: The dark market of farmland rentals
[Land] It’s not getting any easier to follow the market for this key farm expense
Reading Time: 5 minutes Somehow, how farmland rental rates get set remains one of the mysteries of the universe despite being so hotly debated in social media. Whether you’re a renter or a landlord, everyone is endlessly fishing for details about what the neighbour is charging or paying, although it’s easier to crack a bank vault than pry that […] Read more
Summer Series: The lease-back business of farmland
[Land] The future according to Bonnefield CEO Tom Eisenhauer
Reading Time: 6 minutes “Every other business in this country has access to outside investors and outside capital; why shouldn’t farmers have that too?” asks the CEO of Canada’s largest provider of land-lease financing for farmers. “Farmers should have all the same financial tools that a tech company or a mining company does,” Tom Eisenhauer tells us. “That’s what […] Read more
Summer Series: The family landscape
[Land] The Impact: Rising farmland values mean new farm opportunities, and frequent challenges for family harmony
Reading Time: 5 minutes Once considered among the most traditional, unchanging ways of life, farming today is being transformed. Farmland values are changing the nature of farming and farm business management, and introducing new opportunities and risks. Plus, they are creating challenges for farm families. Land prices are raising new questions about how to direct assets to different siblings, […] Read more
Summer Series: The right farm team
[Land] It’s the Catch-22 of the decade. Either buy that ultra-expensive land or someone else will. How do you make that decision?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Two years ago in June, Terry Aberhart got a call from an account manager at the land investment company that, at the time, was leasing him about 2,000 acres of his roughly 15,000-acre operation. “Hey, we’ve been having some unsolicited offers come in,” the voice on the line said. The account manager went on: “In […] Read more
Summer Series: Business on the ground
[Land] With these land prices, can young farmers hope to ever write a sensible business plan? Maybe, but it’ll take innovative thinking
Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s a daunting mix for young farmers. Land prices are soaring, production costs are climbing, interest rates are uncertain. And that’s not to mention the mix of international politics, market volatility and weather woes that are breeding black swans at historic rates. With 2024 almost here, it’s hard to be any age. But how would […] Read more
Summer Series: In search of bargain farmland
[Land] Are there still any great deals on Canadian farmland? Where are they, and what’s the catch?
Reading Time: 12 minutes On the surface, the news isn’t great for farmers looking to expand. Everywhere you look, it’s a seller’s market. The law of supply-demand is working against you, with multiple bidders on practically every property. Technology seems like it’s against you too. Check out our accompanying story “New ways to buy and sell farmland”. The days […] Read more
Summer Series: Win from the sidelines
[Land] The spike in farmland prices has boosted the equity of farmers all across Canada. We ask McGill economist Pascal Theriault, is this a historic opportunity?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Are farmers leveraging their new-found equity to generate new business opportunities or farm wealth? To explore what farmland values mean for farms and farming across Canada, Country Guide sat down with Pascal Thériault, agricultural economist at Macdonald Campus, McGill University and vice-president of Quebec’s Ordre des agronomes. Country Guide (CG): The specifics vary across the […] Read more
Summer Series: Where will land prices be in 10 years?
[Land] Insider predictions on what to expect from land prices in the next decade
Reading Time: 5 minutes There is just one word to describe the value of farmland in Canada: high. Or maybe that should be HIGH. Cultivated farmland across Canada jumped an average 12.8 percent last year, says Farm Credit Canada. It’s the biggest jump since 2014 and part of an upward trend that has seen land values post continuous gains […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
