Farmers turn their eyes to P.E.I.’s red dirt

Land values on Island rise more than 13%

Tyler Hinsperger has been farming in Ontario for as long as he could reach the pedals on his father’s tractor.

But last year Hinsperger traded his 120 acres of Ontario farmland for about four times as much in P.E.I.

“There’s too many people trying to fight over land and it’s driving the (Southern Ontario) prices up too high,” Hinsperger said, explaining his decision to move.

Demand from farmers like Hinsperger is one of the reasons P.E.I farmland values increased by 13 per cent in 2016, more than in any other province, according to figures released this week by Farm Credit Canada (FCC.)

It is the second-highest annual increase on record for P.E.I., according to the FCC, and bucks a nationwide trend that saw overall farmland value growth slow to 7.9 per cent in 2016, down from 10.1 per cent the year before and 14 per cent in 2014.

Alberta came in second to P.E.I with an increase of 9.5 per cent in 2016. Nova Scotia saw an increase of 9.1 per cent and British Colombia saw an increase of 8.2 per cent.

While newcomers have played a role in P.E.I., Charles Dubé, an FCC appraiser for the Atlantic provinces, attributes the majority of the increase to farmers expanding their existing operations there.

“The demands that have occurred on P.E.I. this year are mostly small appraisals which were bought by either neighbouring farmers or farm entities that are looking to expand their land base in order to either provide for a better crop rotation schedule for the crops and also for producing forage crops for their livestock,” he said.

“It could be just a small farmer with a 100 acres looking to get an extra 45 acres or it could be a large farmer just wanting to have a better rotation schedule for his crops.”

David Mol, the president of the P.E.I. Federation of