Grainswest - Spring 2026

Spring 2026 Grains West 36 operations are too small to support the next generation. “The goal is for our partners to have access to the land until they can buy us out and own it outright. But we also care about their neighbours. We don’t want to mess up their communities or push up land prices. We focus on purchasing land that is offered to our partners privately from family or landlords; we avoid setting new highs and we don’t offer on land at all if it should go to someone else, like a neighbour who has rented it forever.” The company also assists with crop marketing, agronomy, purchase of inputs, fixing operating problems and even maintains a network of retired farmers to mentor younger farmers. EMOTIONS AND POLITICS Ag realtor Ted Cawkwell is a fourth- generation Saskatchewan farmer-turned real estate agent. More than 95 per cent of his clients are farmers with the remainder being investors. It’s clear from his vantage point most farmers aren’t too thrilled with the investor trend. “Farmers in general don’t want as many investors buying in their backyard regardless of politics, but it does vary a lot with their political belief,” he said. “It’s not logical, it’s emotional. If they are left-leaning in their politics, they don’t want it. People on the right side aren’t as worked up about it.” Cawkwell may hear about one case of foreign ownership per year, but said it is not a sustained issue. About two per cent of Saskatchewan farmland is owned by investors. Hypothetically, if 10 per cent of the two per cent are bad actors who flout foreign ownership rules, this is 0.02 per cent, he said. “So, when people say these people are pushing the market up it’s interesting to me that two-tenths of one per cent could move the market that much,” he said. “We know the investors can’t invest as much as the farmers.” In Cawkwell’s experience, a farmer who is selling prefers nine out of 10 times to sell to a farmer they know. “Farmers have a soft spot for other farmers, especially young ones, but usually only ones from their area,” he said. “If you move from 100 kilometres away, not so much. I see it all the time.” Investors, he noted, will hold onto land only if it provides a return. “They don’t have the emotional attachment,” said Cawkwell. “If they buy a quarter of farmland and next year there’s more money in buying Nike shoes, they’ll sell the farmland and buy Nikes, and on and on.” Cawkwell suggested the conversation requires realism, because investors are not all bad. He recounts his own experience as a farmer to illustrate his point. “When I started farming, I bought one quarter and rented two. Next year I rented another one. If you don’t have the capital to buy land, then the investors are good because that’s just one more person you can partner with. Investors are good for young and undercapitalized farmers because they need to rent land.” What he believes to be true of his home province is perhaps common to farmers nationwide. “I think because it’s political and emotional, it really fires people up.” “Farmers in general don’t want as many investors buying in their backyard regardless of politics, but it does vary a lot with their political belief.” —Ted Cawkwell FEATURE Though most farmers don't like the investor trend, to rent land frompurchasers who assume the capital risk can make sound economic sense.