When we first took government in 2006 the capital gains exemption stood at $500,000. Of course, over that last nine years now we've seen a tremendous growth in the value of farmland as well as the farm entity itself. There's going to be some capital gain recaptured.
We first changed it to $750,000. Then we indexed it, so it's sitting around $813,000 and change, I think, if I remember the number correctly. Now we've moved it to the $1 million mark, which is reflective of the increases we've seen on farms.
Most of the farms out in our country are well north of that $1 million value. I've seen several that were sold for $20-plus million. It does make a significant difference on the bottom line when farmers decide to sell out. It certainly helps pave the way so that the next generation can pay a little less from dad, if at all possible, and dad and mom still have enough to retire on in the lifestyle of their choice.
It's just one of those things that government can and should do, just every once in a while, to bring things up to current status. That's why our programs at Ag Canada evolve. Farming has changed drastically in the last 5, 10, 20 years. It's only right that our programming change as well, including our tax program.