PEMBROKE — Some farmers say they will never see a profit from land purchases as the price of land is simply too high. However, some farmers are buying land as an investment, while others feel pressured to buy adjacent land. 

According to OMAFRA estimates, operating expenses for an acre of corn would cost $518 to $544 per acre, depending on the tilling system. If the acre yielded 160 bushels and the corn was sold for $5 a bushel, a farmer could expect $256 to $282 in profit. 

For soybeans, operating expenses could cost $265 to $288, said OMAFRA. Yielding 45 bu/ac sold at $11 a bushel would equal a $207 to $230 per acre profit. Those OMAFRA estimates include fungicides, insecticides, insurance and a bevy of other expenses, but do not include land rent or land purchasing.

If a farmer bought a piece of property at $12,000 an acre, and rotated only corn and soybeans, he would make almost $500 an acre every two years. It would take about 48 years for the corn and soybean profits to pay for the purchase.

Renfrew County farmer Darcy Smith purchased 230 acres at a reasonable rate from the bank last year after he put a bid on it. The land had been repossessed from another farmer. With land prices hovering around $6,500-$7,500 an acre in his area, that land would never pay for itself in a farmer’s lifetime, he said.