Quebec leading most provinces as prices jump 5.4% in first half of 2024

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Quebec has recorded the second highest increase in farmland values in the first six months of 2024, as prices jumped 5.4 per cent, according to figures released by Farm Credit Canada earlier this month.

It is the second year in a row that the 6-month increase in farmland prices in Quebec outpaced all provinces except Saskatchewan, where prices jumped 7.4 per cent in the first half of 2024, the data shows.

Ontario recorded the second lowest rate of increase, as prices there rose by 2.1 per, while cultivated land in Prince Edward Island edged up by only 1.7 per cent.

Rates of increase in New Brunswick, British Columbia and Alberta came in at 5.2, 5 and 4.6 per cent, respectively.

Overall, farmland prices saw a 5.5-per-cent average hike in Canada.

This small national deceleration in the growth of farmland values comes as interest rates have dropped, but at the same time farm revenues have been depressed as commodity prices have taken a hit, the FCC highlights.

“High input costs squeeze profit margins, possibly limiting farmers’ capacity to invest in new land and moderating farmland growth,” the FCC said in a statement issued Oct. 4.

Another factor that is a crucial driver of farmland values, the lending organization pointed to, is the limited availability of growing land for sale.