Article Summary
ExtrAcre Farmland Inc. has completed its 250th online farmland rental auction — a milestone that marks nearly a decade of building transparency into Saskatchewan's farmland leasing market. This post looks back at the journey from a single auction in one RM to a province-wide platform that has helped hundreds of Saskatchewan landowners achieve true market rental rates, and looks forward to what ExtrAcre is building next for landowners, farmers, and investors across the Prairies.
When ExtrAcre ran its very first online farmland rental auction, the idea was simple but radical for Saskatchewan: let the market set the price. Instead of informal handshake deals between a landowner and a single tenant — deals that had defined Prairie farmland leasing for generations — ExtrAcre created an open, competitive bidding process where multiple qualified farmers could bid transparently on the same parcel.
The result, auction after auction, was the same: rental rates 10–30% higher than what the same land had been earning through private negotiation. Not because farmers were being exploited, but because the old system had systematically undervalued farmland for landlords who simply didn't know what their land was worth in a competitive market.
Today, with our 250th auction behind us, we want to reflect on what we've learned — and share where we're heading.
How We Got Here: The ExtrAcre Journey
2016
Canada's First Online Farmland Rental Auction
Robin Liu launches ExtrAcre with a single auction in west-central Saskatchewan — the first time Canadian farmland rental rates had ever been set through a transparent, competitive online bidding process. The concept was met with skepticism by some and curiosity by many. The winning bid came in 22% above the landowner's previous lease rate.
2018
Expanding Across Saskatchewan
ExtrAcre runs auctions in its first 10 RMs, spanning five of Saskatchewan's six geographic regions. Word of mouth from landowners who experienced competitive bidding for the first time drives rapid growth. The platform's Renter Profile system — requiring bidders to submit detailed farming credentials — builds trust among landlords reluctant to lease to unknown farmers.
2020
Soft Close Technology & Platform Upgrade
ExtrAcre introduces Soft Close — the auction automatically extends by 5 minutes each time a bid is placed near closing, preventing last-second sniping and ensuring every farmer has a fair chance to compete. This single feature drove a measurable increase in final winning bid values across all auction categories.
2022
Large-Block Auctions & Multi-Parcel Offerings
ExtrAcre completes its first major multi-parcel auction — 27 quarters in the RM of Stanley No. 215, offered as three separate lots including a 977-acre tame grass pasture block. The success demonstrated that the competitive auction model scales effectively to large landholdings, opening the door to institutional and large-portfolio landlords.
2024
Buy & Sell Expansion
ExtrAcre expands beyond rental auctions to offer farmland sale listings — connecting buyers and sellers across Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba. The platform now offers landowners a complete suite of services: rental auction, sale appraisal, listing, and land management — all from one team.
2026
250th Auction Milestone
ExtrAcre completes its 250th farmland rental auction — covering RMs across all regions of Saskatchewan, from the Brown soil southwest to the Black soil northeast. The 250 auctions have collectively helped landowners recover tens of millions of dollars in rental income that would otherwise have been left on the table through private negotiation.
What 250 Auctions Have Taught Us
10–30%
Average rental increase above prior lease rate on ExtrAcre auctions
3–7
Average number of qualified bidders per auction parcel
5 min
Soft Close extension per bid — ensures fair competition at every closing
After 250 auctions, a few patterns are consistent regardless of region, soil class, or parcel size:
Competition is the most powerful rent determinant. The single biggest driver of a strong winning bid is the number of qualified farmers who show up to bid. An auction with 6 bidders consistently produces 15–25% higher rents than one with 2 bidders — even for identical land. This is why ExtrAcre invests so heavily in marketing each auction to the farmer community in the relevant RM, and why our Auction Alert sign-up list matters so much to landowners.
Landowners consistently underestimate their land's rental value. In our experience, landowners who come to ExtrAcre after years of private leasing are almost universally surprised by the competitive bids they receive. The gap between what they were getting and what the market is willing to pay averages 10–30% — and in some cases has exceeded 50% in RMs where a single tenant had farmed the same land for decades without a competitive renewal.
Farmers respect the process. A common concern we hear from first-time landowners is that farmers won't like the auction model — that it will damage relationships. In practice, the opposite tends to be true. Farmers who win an ExtrAcre auction know they paid a fair market price through an open, transparent process. They know the landowner didn't just take the highest dollar — ExtrAcre's landowner review process means winning farmers were also selected for their farming credentials and reputation. This creates stronger, more stable landlord-tenant relationships than informal private deals.
"ExtrAcre is an Online Rental Auction Platform which was the first of its kind in Canada, and which quickly became widely recognized as the authority for the establishment of area rental rate in Saskatchewan."
— ExtrAcre Farmland Inc., About Us
What Makes ExtrAcre Different
🔔
Soft Close — No Sniping
Every ExtrAcre auction uses Soft Close technology. When a bid is placed in the final 5 minutes, the auction clock resets to 5 minutes. This continues until a full 5-minute period passes with no new bids. Every farmer has a fair chance, and landowners achieve true competitive price discovery.
👤
Renter Profile — Verified Bidders
Every bidder must complete a verified Renter Profile before participating. Farming experience, equipment, references, and financial capacity are all documented. Landowners review the top bidder's profile before awarding the lease — the highest bid doesn't automatically win. Price and quality, together.
📋
Legal Lease Included
ExtrAcre provides a professionally drafted legal lease agreement for every auction. Both landowner and winning tenant are required to sign within 3 business days. The lease is a binding legal contract — not an informal handshake — protecting both parties for the full term.
💰
Free to Bid — No Farmer Fees
The ExtrAcre platform is completely free for farmers. There are no bidder fees, no registration fees, and no commission charged to tenants. ExtrAcre's service fee is paid by landowners as a commission on total rent — aligning our interests directly with maximizing your rental income.
🔍
Free Rental Appraisal
Any landowner can request a free rental appraisal before deciding whether to run an auction. ExtrAcre provides an estimated market rental rate based on real competitive bid data from comparable land in the same RM — the most accurate benchmark available in Saskatchewan.
🏠
Full Farmland Services
ExtrAcre now offers end-to-end farmland services: rental auction, land management, sale appraisal, and MLS® listing through our real estate partner Qing Zhang at Royal LePage Next Level Regina — Saskatchewan's top-ranked farm Realtor.
What's Next for ExtrAcre
Looking Ahead — ExtrAcre's Next Chapter
🌾
Auction 251 and beyond. We continue to run rental auctions across all Saskatchewan regions — from the southeast grain belt to the northwest mixed-farming areas. If your land lease is coming up for renewal in 2026 or 2027, now is the time to get a free rental appraisal and explore whether a competitive auction could recover value you've been leaving on the table.
📈
Pre-purchase rental auctions for investors. ExtrAcre's growing investor client base is taking advantage of our unique pre-purchase strategy — running a rental auction before closing on a land purchase, so investors acquire farmland with a signed tenant lease already in place. More land is changing hands in Saskatchewan right now than at any point in recent years; ExtrAcre is positioned to help new owners start generating income from day one.
🌐
Alberta and Manitoba expansion. ExtrAcre's platform is already accessible to landowners in Alberta and Manitoba. We are actively working to bring the same competitive auction model to Prairie farmland markets beyond Saskatchewan — where the same information asymmetry and informal leasing market exists.
🤝
Thank you. To every landowner who trusted ExtrAcre with their land, every farmer who registered and bid competitively, and every member of the Saskatchewan agricultural community who has supported this platform — 250 auctions happened because of you. We're just getting started.
