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Holland Marsh prices second highest in country Holland Marsh prices second highest in country Rising cost of farmland Rick Vanderlinde The cost of farmland has doubled per acre in some parts of Ontario since 2010. Innisfil Journal BySusan PIgg So you think Toronto’s housing market is crazy? Be thankful you didn’t opt for life on the farm. Agricultural land prices have virtually doubled in some parts of Ontario just since 2010 and, so far this year, have continued to hit new records across much of Canada, according to a new report released Tuesday by ReMax. “All in all, it’s been a couple of very good years on the farm, and you don’t hear that very often,” says Elton Ash, the B.C.-based regional executive vice president of ReMax Western Canada. The main driver has been unusually strong commodity prices. But there are other factors that have pushed farmland prices to silo-high levels in areas like Woodstock, Kitchener-Waterloo and Leamington. And it turns out they aren’t all that much different from the pressures plaguing big-city housing markets like Toronto’s. The demand for prime land has so outstripped supply the last three years that it’s common to have multiple bidders — including Asian, European and other international investors — looking to snap up farms that come on the market. Few plan to sow seeds themselves. They don’t have to. Rents have also climbed dramatically the last few years. Owners can now get $250 to $300 an acre from experienced farmers in areas like Woodstock and Stratford where farmland has jumped in price from about $8,000 to $9,000 an acre in 2010 to $15,000 to $18,000 per acre this year, says Kevin Williams, a ReMax realtor who focuses just on agricultural real estate. “There’s really a land boom going on,” says Neil Currie, general manager of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. “Investors are looking at farmland as a viable investment and at farming as a viable industry now, which is good news but it does provide a lot of competition for farmers.” British Columbia’s lush Fraser Valley area remains the farmland equivalent of the Four Seasons penthouse suite, with prices ranging from $40,000 to $60,000 per acre. Ontario’s Bradford and Holland Marsh areas take the second and third spots, respectively, at $25,000 and $20,000 per acre and up, says ReMax. But areas like Woodstock, Stratford, London, St. Thomas and Leamington have taken off, right along with commodity prices the last three years, the report shows. With those prices cooling, investor interest in farmland seems to be easing, realtors say. But the supply problem remains. Aging farmers aren’t planning to park their tractors anytime soon, just like baby boomers who are remaining in their homes longer than expected. Kevin Williams focuses just on agricultural real estate and has seen a surge in demand from veteran farm families, just like their big-city counterparts, looking to help their kids get a toehold in the business. It isn’t all about carrying on a treasured family tradition. Most coveted are tracts of land adjacent to the family farm, or close enough down the road that father and son — or daughter — can share costly equipment and benefit from economies of scale. TorStar News Network Innisfil Journal By Susan PIgg Taylor Scott International
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