Johannesburg | Reuters — South Africa’s parliament on Thursday approved a bill allowing state expropriations of land to redress racial disparities in land ownership, an emotive issue two decades after the end of apartheid. Most of South Africa’s land remains in white hands and many commercial and small-scale farmers are currently facing tough times because […] Read more
South Africa’s parliament approves land expropriation bill
How to get a handle on farmland prices
Farm Credit Canada tracks percentage changes across the country, while Alberta Agriculture looks at dollar values in municipalities
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farm Credit Canada’s recently released Farm Land Value Report and a database created by Alberta Agriculture can go a long way to helping producers establish a land value, says a provincial farm business specialist. “According to the new FCC report, Alberta’s change in farmland values was 11.6 per cent which was 1.5 per cent higher […] Read more
Kazakhstan land protests widen in challenge to leader
Almaty | Reuters — Hundreds of people staged street protests in two cities in Kazakhstan on Wednesday over land reform, Kazakh media and local activists reported, a rare act of defiance that could pose a challenge to the leadership of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The protests, a continuation of demonstrations that began on Sunday, were sparked […] Read more
Alberta land prices continue to soar
Farm cash receipts were a ‘pleasant surprise’ last year and that kept upward pressure on land prices
Reading Time: 4 minutes It was another big year for Alberta and Canadian farmland prices, according to Farm Credit Canada’s annual survey. On average, provincial farmland prices jumped by 11.6 per cent, the ag lender said in its 2015 Farmland Values Report while nationally they rose 10.1 per cent. But there are a lot of variations across the province, […] Read more
Canadian farmland values up again in 2015
Farm Credit Canada says the annual percentage increase in farmland values is getting smaller
Reading Time: 4 minutes Manitoba farmland values led the way with the highest average percentage increase in Canada last year, says Farm Credit Canada (FCC). But the pace of increases the last few years here and across Canada is slowing in step with the plateauing of farm cash receipts, and slower drop in interest rates, J.P. Gervais, FCC’s chief […] Read more
England’s farmland prices fall ahead of Brexit vote
London | Reuters –– Farmland prices in England fell by 3.2 per cent in the first quarter of this year — the largest quarterly decline since 2008, weighed partly by uncertainty ahead of the June 23 referendum on European Union membership, estate agent Knight Frank said. Knight Frank’s Farmland Index fell to 19,538 pounds (C$35,881) […] Read more
Saskatchewan farmland off limits for pension plans next month
Reuters/Staff — New rules for buying farmland in Saskatchewan, Canada’s biggest wheat- and canola-growing province, will take effect Jan. 4, and toughen its ban on pension plans investing, the provincial government said Monday. The changes make more explicit an existing ban on pension plans and trusts from buying land and continue to limit purchases of […] Read more
The downside of an option-to-purchase land agreement
This type of agreement doesn’t oblige an energy or utility company to buy the land
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Farmers’ Advocate Office has received numerous inquiries on option-to-purchase agreements between landowners and the energy and utility sectors. “It’s important that landowners are aware of the risks of option-to-purchase agreements,” said Jeana Les, research and communications specialist for the advocate office. “An option-to-purchase agreement locks a landowner into selling to a certain company at […] Read more
Australia blocks foreign firm’s deal for largest farm owner
Sydney | Reuters –– Australia on Thursday blocked the sale of the country’s largest landowner, private farming group S. Kidman and Co., to foreign investors, saying an agricultural area the size of South Korea should remain in Australian hands. Ownership of farmland is a sensitive political issue in Australia amid concerns that foreign buyers are […] Read more
India’s Modi battles opposition to key land reform
New Delhi | Reuters — India’s opposition parties boycotted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest attempt to build consensus around a business-friendly land bill Wednesday, boding badly for his ambitious agenda of economic reform in a parliament session that starts next week. Almost half of India’s 31 chief ministers spurned Modi’s invitation to meet him in […] Read more
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