The survey is open to all farmers in Ontario who own or rent farmland
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The University of Guelph (U of G) is looking for farmers to participate in a farmland survey.
The 2022 Farmland Value and Rental Value Survey, which is funded by the Ontario ministry of agriculture, is open to all farmers in Ontario who own and/or rent farmland.
Some of the questions the survey asks include:
- “How would you describe your relationship to the agricultural sector?
- “In 2022, approximately how many acres of farmland did you rent, lease, cropshare or custom farm as a tenant?”
Once the data is collected and examined, the results are posted online.
“This survey allows us to provide annual reports with median rent/price data by Ontario county, which we make publicly available on our project website,” Dr. Brady Deaton, a professor in the U of G’s department of food, ag and resource economics, told Farms.com in an email.
The U of G has conducted the survey every year since 2016.
The results show how the value of farmland changes over the years, Deaton said.
“We hope the longitudinal data will help shed light on the changing nature of farmland rents and prices across the province across time, illuminating the role of various situational agricultural and non-agricultural pressures on farmland,” he said.
In the 2016 survey, for example, farmers in Peterborough County said the price per tillable acre of “average quality farmland” in the county is $3,500.
In the 2021 survey, that value increased to $7,200 per acre.
Deaton and his team are hoping to collect enough data through these surveys to compare current prices with the past.
“A longer-term goal of this survey is to track rent/price ratios over time, to compare present day farmland markets with historic trends,” he said. “Based on our feedback, this appears to be useful to many farmers, farmland owners and others interested in the agricultural sector.”
Deaton estimates the survey will take farmers between 10 and 15 minutes to complete.
Participants do not have to answer every question and may withdraw from the survey at any time.
Deaton encourages anyone interested in participating in the survey to check their inboxes for emails from farm organizations and following the related links.
Anyone with questions about the survey can contact Deaton at 519-824-4120 ext. 52765, or by email.