Don't want to highjack the thread on bred cows, so I'm putting this subject in it's own.
What's everyone's opinion on whether or not the Federal government should sell off the PFRA pastures? Does anyone use them? We tried for twenty years to get into one, and never got off the wait list. Now they've raised the grazing rates so high we can't afford it. Is this simply a result of the lower cattle numbers? Or was this a long term plan on the government's part to "make" them unviable so they could be sold off?
This is from an old story on portageonline.com about our local community pasture. I think they saw the handwriting on the wall regarding PFRA pastures, so took steps to keep this land in it's current pasture state. It's on the edge of a very profitable potato growing area, and if this was ever broken up, the irrigation pivots would go so fast it would make your head spin.
Now what remains to be seen is whether it will stick when money gets involved.
Quote:
A community pasture in western Manitoba will continue to benefit local cattle producers after Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation and the Municipalities of Langford and Lansdowne.
The Langford Community Pasture is about 21 thousand acres in size, supporting around 2 thousand head of cattle belonging to 26 area producers.
"This will preserve and protect the land that's out there, putting an everlasting picture on the environment in terms of good management," says Brandon-Souris MP Merv Tweed. "It's a beautiful area and we have solidified it with an agreement that they will continue to co-manage it into the long future."
AAFC is responsible for more than 2 million acres of grazing land in western Canada, most of which was formerly managed under the PFRA umbrella.
"As you and I know, when you have land and commodity prices go up, people start to look for more land. What they're saying is 'this is an area we're going to preserve.' It's a pristine area and the agreement will allow for that to continue on into the future," says Tweed.
What's everyone's opinion on whether or not the Federal government should sell off the PFRA pastures? Does anyone use them? We tried for twenty years to get into one, and never got off the wait list. Now they've raised the grazing rates so high we can't afford it. Is this simply a result of the lower cattle numbers? Or was this a long term plan on the government's part to "make" them unviable so they could be sold off?
This is from an old story on portageonline.com about our local community pasture. I think they saw the handwriting on the wall regarding PFRA pastures, so took steps to keep this land in it's current pasture state. It's on the edge of a very profitable potato growing area, and if this was ever broken up, the irrigation pivots would go so fast it would make your head spin.
Now what remains to be seen is whether it will stick when money gets involved.
Quote:
A community pasture in western Manitoba will continue to benefit local cattle producers after Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation and the Municipalities of Langford and Lansdowne.
The Langford Community Pasture is about 21 thousand acres in size, supporting around 2 thousand head of cattle belonging to 26 area producers.
"This will preserve and protect the land that's out there, putting an everlasting picture on the environment in terms of good management," says Brandon-Souris MP Merv Tweed. "It's a beautiful area and we have solidified it with an agreement that they will continue to co-manage it into the long future."
AAFC is responsible for more than 2 million acres of grazing land in western Canada, most of which was formerly managed under the PFRA umbrella.
"As you and I know, when you have land and commodity prices go up, people start to look for more land. What they're saying is 'this is an area we're going to preserve.' It's a pristine area and the agreement will allow for that to continue on into the future," says Tweed.
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