Alberta farmland is getting more and more expensive, driven largely by a limited supply of land for sale and large producers expanding their operations.
According to a recent report by Farm Credit Canada (FCC), average cultivated farmland values rose 7.1 percent in 2024 continuing a trend that has seen the price of an acre double over the past decade.
In Canada, the average value of cultivated farmland increased by 9.3 percent in 2024, down from an 11.5 percent increase in 2023.
An Upward Trend
Farmland values have been trending upward for more than 30 years. That’s good news for established farmers and ranchers but challenging for younger generations wanting to get started in the agriculture sector.
“Values continue to support producers’ balance sheets, but high prices are leading to affordability challenges and barriers to entry for some producers, especially new entrants in the industry,” says the FCC in its annual report.
Total Canadian crop yield hit 94.6 million tonnes in 2024, up 2.7 percent from 2023, but farm receipts were down 11.8 percent because of lower prices for grains, oilseeds, and pulses which include beans, lentils, and peas.
“The profitability pressures combined with the current uncertainty with regards to trade disruptions create significant headwinds for farm operations looking to invest,” said J.P. Gervais, FCC’s chief economist.
The challenges of climate change and drought coupled with the looming threat of tariffs from the U.S. and China have added to the day-to-day stress of farming.
“Together, the U.S. and China account for over half of all Canadian grain exports — losing access or facing exorbitant tariffs in both markets at once is a threat farmers cannot afford to absorb,” says Kyle Larkin, executive director of Grain Growers of Canada in an interview with farmnewsnow.com.
National Farmers Union Speaks Out
Concern is also growing among Albertan farmers about the province’s reopening of the eastern slopes to coal exploration and mining and the proposed Grassy Mountain coal project.
Selenium is a metal often released into the environment by coal mining operations. In alkaline water, like the rivers that flow from the eastern slopes, selenium can become toxic and dangerous.
Farmers fear it could contaminate already drought-stressed rivers like the Oldman, a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River.
The rollback of Alberta’s coal policy represents a serious threat to farmers as well as tourism, the environment, and aquatic life.
“The principal threat lies with selenium contamination, something I have already had to deal with once in my farming career because of the oil patch,” says National Farmers Union Alberta board member Glenn Norman in a media release.
Norman produces farm-raised beef, hay, and honey at Davey Creek Ranch in Red Deer County between Calgary and Edmonton, where farmland prices jumped an average of 7.8 percent last year.
Alberta’s northern region, which produces a variety of grains including flaxseed, wheat, and barley, and livestock including dairy and beef cattle, sheep, lamb and pigs, saw the highest average increase in the province of 11.3 percent.
Compared to its neighbouring provinces, Alberta farmland price increases were modest at 11.7 percent.
Saskatchewan had the highest price jump in the country at 13.1 percent, followed by British Columbia at 11.3 percent, New Brunswick at 9 percent, and Quebec at 7.7 percent.
