Farmland values across the country lost steam last year.

That's according to Farm Credit Canada's latest Farmland Values Report.

Canada’s farmland values showed an average increase of 7.9 % in 2016, compared to a 10.1% increase in 2015 and a 14.3 % increase in 2014.

In Alberta farmland values jumped 9.5 % compared to an 11.6 % hike the year before.

Alberta reported the second highest average farmland values increase in Canada, eclipsed only by PEI.

The province’s 9.5 % average increase was largely buoyed by grain sector expansion in the north, as well as activity from non-traditional buyers in the south.

While competition for available farmland also increased prices in other regions, farmland on the outskirts of urban centres saw reduced prices due to the general economic downturn.

In six provinces, the average increase in farmland values slowed from the previous year and despite the overall national increase, seven of the 51 regions assessed across Canada showed no increase in farmland values in 2016.

FCC's Chief Agricultural Economist J.P. Gervais says that a healthy ag sector, supported by a low Canadian dollar and low interest rates helped sustain increases in farmland values in 2016.