But not in the poor business environment around them, OFA survey says
Farmers Forum staff
GUELPH — There’s a striking “confidence gap” in Ontario farm country amid overarching concerns about rising input costs and taxes, according to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s latest farm business confidence survey.
The survey of 854 OFA members ran online from Dec. 1, 2025 to Jan. 16, 2026. Results were released in a webinar delivered by OFA farm policy analyst Ben Lefort.
According to the data, 76.4 % of farmers feel confident in their own farm business for the coming year (2026), yet only 57.7 % feel the same about the broader Ontario ag sector. This 18.7 percentage point “confidence gap” suggests that while producers trust their own management and resilience, they remain wary of external pressures and feel they are succeeding despite the prevailing poor business environment, not because of it.
“Farmers do remain confident in themselves even if they don’t have much confidence in the environment they have to operate in,” Lefort said of the “persistent trend.” The confidence gap was an even higher 20 % last year, heading into 2025, when a newly inaugurated Donald Trump was ramping up his tariff threats.
Reducing farm taxes was the overwhelming top policy concern identified by the respondents. Nearly 70 % chose that as job number one for OFA staff to pursue in 2026.
The desire for lower taxes comes as farmers feel the pressure of a massive fiscal squeeze. Total farm expenses have surged by 53.5 % since 2018, hitting a record $20.8 billion in 2024. Rising input costs were cited by nearly 79 % of respondents as the top concern on their farms heading into 2026.
Other significant concerns weighing on the minds of producers include:
Commodity prices: 58.6 % of farmers.
Cost of insurance: 49.26 %.
Farmland prices: In the large commercial sector (farms earning at least $500,000), a whopping 90 % of respondents view current land prices as “too high”.
Despite high costs, the survey also shows that farmers continue to reinvest. Machinery remains the dominant category, with 41.5 % of farmers planning to buy machinery in 2026.
About 31 % of large commercial farms plan investments in digital agricultural technologies.
Age also plays a pivotal role in modernization. Farmers under 35 are more than twice as likely to adopt digital tools (26.3 %) than those aged 60 and above (10.9 %). “Farmers who are investing in digital technologies are more than twice as likely to be expanding their business compared to those who don’t,” Lefort noted.
A significant survey takeaway is a link between infrastructure and growth. The data suggests a “connectivity gap” — lack of optimal internet and cellular service in many rural areas — is actively holding the industry back. Farmers who haven’t invested in tech were more likely to list faster broadband access as a top priority (31.4 %) than those who have already made the leap (27.8 %).
