SURVEY: Ontario farmland values hold steady, rental gap persists

Nelson Zandbergen
Farmers Forum

OTTAWA — A recent survey of 943 Ontario farmers indicates that farmland values across the province remained relatively stable throughout 2025. The latest annual Farmland Value and Rental Value Survey, conducted by the University of Guelph’s Professor Brady Deaton Jr., suggests that while some regions saw minor fluctuations, the overall observation is one of steady farmland prices and little change in rental rates, which means no improvement in the Ontario’s “relatively low” rent-to-price ratio.

The online survey relies on the perceptions and knowledge of voluntary respondents rather than actual sales records or rental contracts. The latest edition surveyed the participants in January and February 2026, looking back at the previous year. The survey presents median (not average) prices.

Oxford County emerged with the highest reported median farmland price in the province at $37,500 per acre, based on the respondents’ input. Despite this high valuation, the median annual rent in Oxford was $350 per acre, resulting in a rent-to-price ratio of just 0.9%, or less than half of the 2.1 % national rent-to-price ratio calculated by Statistics Canada in its last agricultural census of 2021.

The lower the ratio, the poorer the return on investment for a landlord renting out the property, and Ontario lags other jurisdictions on this score, an issue Deaton has raised for years in his report. “One long term goal of this survey is to continue to collect this measure over time, in order to compare present information with historic trends.”

Other regions demonstrated even tighter spreads in Deaton’s 2025 survey. In Niagara, the rent-to-price ratio was 0.5%, while Simcoe County’s was just 0.4%.

Respondents from Prescott and Russell United Counties reported the highest farmland prices in Eastern Ontario at $18,000 per acre — up $3,000 from 2024 — with a rental price of $200 per acre (1.1 % rent-to-price ratio). Prescott and Russell ranked in 10th spot provincially.

Ottawa farmland was second highest in Eastern Ontario at $15,000 per acre — up $2,500 from 2024 — with a rental price of $155 per acre (1 % rent-to-price ratio).

The farmland price was unchanged in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry at $13,000 per acre and a rental rate of $223 per acre (1.7 % rent-to-price ratio).

Looking ahead, the majority of farmers do not expect a drastic shift in the market. According to the survey, 51 % of respondents expected farmland prices in their region to stay the same over the next 12 months. Roughly 24 % anticipated an increase, while only 8% expected a decrease, and 18 % were unsure.

These are the top 15 Ontario regions ranked by median farmland price per acre for 2025, along with the number of survey respondents:

Oxford County: $37,500 (27 respondents)
Waterloo County: $35,500 (8 respondents)
Perth County: $35,000 (18 respondents)
Huron County, Middlesex County, Wellington County & Simcoe County: $30,000 (22 respondents Huron, 26 respondents Middlesex, 17 respondents Wellington, 13 respondents Simcoe)
Elgin County & Lambton County: $25,000 (23 respondents Elgin, 22 respondents Lambton)
Brant: $22,500 (6 respondents)
Dufferin: $21,000 (8 respondents)
Bruce County, Chatham-Kent, Grey County & Norfolk County: $20,000 (19 respondents Bruce, 21 respondents Chatham-Kent, 12 respondents Grey, 15 respondents Norfolk)
Essex County & Niagara: $19,000 (25 respondents Essex, 10 respondents Niagara)
United Counties of Prescott and Russell: $18,000 (6 respondents)
Ottawa: $15,000 (7 respondents)
United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry: $13,000 (15 respondents SDG)
United Counties of Leeds and Grenville: $11,000 (6 respondents)
Lanark County & Northumberland County: $6,000 (5 respondents Lanark, 5 respondents Northumberland)
Manitoulin: $3,500 (6 respondents)