Ontario farmland property values continue to climb

Mathieu Proulx, 14, walks through crops on his grandfather's farm in Cumberland, Ont., Friday June 28, 2013. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

There has been another healthy increase in the value of Ontario farmland.

Farm Credit Canada's "Farmland Values Report" says the average value of farmland in the province went up by nearly 16 per cent last year, continuing a trend that began in 1988.

Ontario farmland values increased by 30 per cent in 2012 and by more than 14 per cent in 2011.

Farm Credit Canada says land in the southern areas of the province with the most favourable soil types commanded high market demand, with Huron, Simcoe, Middlesex and Elgin counties leading way with the most significant increases.