U.S. farmland trades at a premium to its Canadian counterpart, but Canadian farmers see higher land payments as a percentage of revenue, according to new analysis from Farm Credit Canada.
U.S. versus Canadian prices
The average price for Canadian cultivated farmland was $6,900 per acre in 2025 compared to $8,150 (all figures Cdn$) per acre in the U.S. However, comparing value is a complex calculation, FCC economist Justin Shepherd wrote in an April 15 report.
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For example, some U.S. farmland sits in zones with warmer climates and much longer cropping seasons, whereas some Canadian farmland stays snow-covered late into spring.
There are also variations in how Canadian farmland values are calculated.
To address this, Shepherd said, FCC calculated farmland value based on crop acres only and compared it to the equivalent U.S. value.
While U.S. cultivated farmland is more expensive, on average, than Canadian, the dollar per acre gap between the two countries has largely stayed similar since 2000.
Canadian land values have seen fairly consistent growth, averaging 8.7 per cent over the past decade, Shepherd said. U.S. growth rates have seen sharp spikes, such as between 2010 and 2015, followed by flat growth (2015 to 2020). The average growth rate for U.S. farmland was 5.6 per cent.
Since 2020, Canadian farmland values have risen faster than those in the U.S.
Canadian versus U.S. farmer revenue from land
Despite higher average land prices, U.S. farmers had a slight advantage over Canadians in ability to generate revenue from their land.
Using both countries’ agricultural balance sheets, Shepherd said FCC calculated the average farm is making mortgage payments on roughly 15 per cent of their farm’s real estate value.
Using the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture’s formula for land investment cost, in 2025 newly-purchased Canadian farmland averaged a cost of $367 per acre. Owned land cost $143 per acre.
Using U.S. interest rates, newly-purchased U.S. farmland costs producers $381 per acre and owned land cost $127.
Last year, cultivated farmland payments accounted for 39 per cent of Canadian farmers’ grain and oilseed cash receipts.
“Meaning for every dollar earned, 39 cents went toward land payments,” Shepherd wrote.
The U.S. average was 33 cents per dollar of revenue.
“Although this calculation doesn’t include income from livestock or other sectors, it demonstrates that land costs as a percentage of grain revenues are comparable between Canadian and U.S. farmers,” Shepherd said.
