WELLINGTON COUNTY – The University of Guelph is conducting a survey to gather information on rental rates and farmland value across different counties in Ontario.
This survey — open to farm owners, landowners, farm operators and other agricultural professionals — aims to generate public information about farmland values and rents while comparing what’s different in various regions in the province.
For example, last year’s survey found respondents said the median cash rent per acre of average quality cropland was $200 in Wellington County while neighbouring Perth County was $350.
Alexander Scholz, the survey coordinator, explained in a phone call there is a gap in this kind of data which can benefit local farmers and inform policy.
“The more often we do this, over time you can see the development in prices and rental rates. I do think that’s something that’s covered a lot in the news with respect to food prices, farm prices and housing prices,” Scholz said. “It kind of helps to inform to some extent this discussion. What is the development of prices and rental rates and how does it play a role?”
He stressed this isn’t meant for farmers to see where they should set their rental rates but gives an idea of what the local area looks like price wise and the survey also asks about where they see prices going in the future.
Last year’s summary of findings noted in this survey respondents are not randomly sampled from the region and respondents’ knowledge of farmland value can vary considerably depending.
The survey is anonymous and should take approximately 10 to 15 minutes. It can be taken here.