P.E.I. farmers watched the equity on their farm increase by almost 20 per cent in recent years, and while that's the best growth in Atlantic Canada it still lags behind the national rate, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.
Farm equity on P.E.I. was up 19 per cent from 2012 to 2016, while nationally equity it rose 36.9 per cent. Saskatchewan led the country with farm equity up 50.8 per cent.
The growth in equity was largely about real estate. On P.E.I., farm assets rose from $2.27 billion in 2012 to $2.76 billion in 2016. Of that $490 million increase, 88 per cent came from real estate holdings.
While the value of real estate, quota and machinery was up, the value of breeding livestock was down 9.2 per cent.
Livestock assets had been slowly rising from 2012 to 2015, but fell sharply in 2016.
Source : CBC