Farmland investment and financialization in Saskatchewan, 2003–2014: An empirical analysis of farmland transactions

Abstract Since the province of Saskatchewan, Canada liberalized its farmland ownership rules in 2003, private equity firms, pension funds, and wealthy individuals have acquired more than 800,000 acres of farmland. These investors have acquired land with the aim of securing income flows by renting land to independent farm operators and realizing capital gains. The influx of outside investment has raised questions about how these trends could change patterns of farmland ownership, influence farmland values, and affect rural communities. This article analyzes a database of all farmland transactions in Saskatchewan from the period 2003–2014 in order to examine investor behaviour in relation to the farmland market. We present data on the amount of farmland changing hands (the turnover rate), the scale of investor farmland purchases, and prices paid by investors and non-investors, on an annual basis. Our analysis reveals that investors acquired their farmland portfolios over a relatively short period of time; that investor activity seems to have peaked in 2012; and that, on average, investors paid more for farmland than other buyers in a number of ‘high-activity’ regions of the province. Furthermore, while some investors continually accumulated land throughout the study period, others bought and sold large portfolios over a few years. These trends provide further evidence of the ‘financialization’ of farmland in Saskatchewan.