Farmland value and rental value survey opens for ninth year

GUELPH – Now in its ninth year, the Ontario Farmland Value and Rental Value Survey (OFVRVS) continues to bring annual data, at the county-level, and provide farmers and farmland owners with a benchmark on rental rates in their area. 

The survey was created in 2016 by University of Guelph (U of G) Professor Brady Deaton with support from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA).

It is conducted in collaboration with three farm organizations in Ontario; the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, the National Farmers Union and the OFA. 

“By including members of these three farm groups in the survey sample, the survey sample pool includes nearly all farm businesses in the province,” Deaton’s research associate Alex Scholz told the Advertiser in a Jan. 13 email. 

The survey officially opened on Jan. 7 and will close on Jan. 31, with results released online by the end of March. 

When first initiated it was the only source of Ontario farmland rental rates made available on an annual basis, explained Scholz. 

The survey allows its users to understand the significant variation in farmland rents and prices for average quality cropland in their geographic area. It also gathers the farmer’s perceptions of who is buying land (farmers and non-farmers) and how this varies across Ontario. 

“The lack of publicly available annual data” is the major reason why the university, with financial support from OMAFRA continues to conduct the survey, he added. 

Each year representatives from U of G, OMAFRA, the three farm groups and others meet to discuss the survey results and suggest future directions for the coming year’s survey. 

Summary of 2023 findings 

Out of the over 27,000 people contacted, a total of 1,100 Ontario respondents participated in the online survey between Jan. 9 to Feb. 7 in 2024. They were asked questions related to the previous year.

In Wellington County it was reported that 50% of the region’s farmland was purchased by farmers. 

“Since nearly 30 per cent of the farmland in Ontario is in the rental market, having a general understanding of what rental rates are presently, and what they have been enhances our general understanding of an important factor of production,” he explained. 

The results of the survey are posted online on the OFVRVS’s website at onfarmlandsurvey.com. 

“We try to do this relatively quickly so that respondents can see the value of their participation in the survey,” stated Scholz. 

Reporter