Alberta farmland values showed an average increase of 3.3% in Farm Credit Canada's 2019 Farmland Values Report.
FCC's Robert McDonald says when it comes to land prices regionally they can vary quite a bit, in the Peace River Region, farmland values range from $1000 to $3300 an acre.
“What I've seen in that area, it depends on the demand and the quality of the soil. There was a time a few years back when the commodity prices were much higher, and we were getting really good crops. It didn't seem like the differential on the quality of soil was as great as it is again. Now where we're seeing that people will pay a little bit more for really good quality soil.”
He notes in Northern Alberta there’s a range of $1600 to $6800 an acre.
“The low end is typically reflected by a lower quality, or further distance from a larger city or town, that sort of thing. There can be some differentials if you're in a number one soil around Westlock to Leduc, down along the Parkland corridor, you'll see those higher values for sure. Then you get into some supply management areas where land is a premium ticket. Typically, you'll see that in the North, which steps into the Central area, where we have a lot of supply management in the Lacombe-Red Deer area. In the Central, it (land) averaged $4327 an acre with a value range of $1400 to $8600.”
McDonald says the higher-priced land is in the South, mainly where water is accessible for irrigation.
“The average is $6399 an acre, so you’ll see as we go further South the unit value is climbing up. There land ranges from $2000 to $12,800 an acre. The big reason on that is because we're dealing with both dryland cultivated acres and irrigation. The $12,800 would, of course, be irrigated land that's cultivated. If you've got irrigated land, the demand is still reasonably high for it.”
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