10 YEARS AGO TODAY !!!

[kato]

Former Alberta agriculture minister Shirley McClellan suggests it wasn’t a determining factor.

“Any producer that went out of the industry was going out anyway.”

What an arrogant attitude!

[grassfarmer]

There are some quotes in there that support the point
I'm making.

"Dave Salvorson has a cow/calf and feedlot operation
of about 1,200 hectares in the Camrose area and
currently serves as a vice-president in the CCA. What
saved him, Salvorson says, was the fact that his land
“continued to appreciate,” which kept the bankers
happy. He says prior to that fateful Tuesday in May
2003, his herd was worth “over a million dollars.” A
couple of weeks later it was worth $300,000 to
$400,000.
Salvorson says he plans to stay in the business long
term, though the post BSE environment has forced
him to become more efficient. He says his “mortgage
burning ceremony” has been postponed by a couple
of years."

Not sure what Dave's land is like but 3000 acres x
even $2500/acre makes his land worth $7.5 million
now where it was maybe worth under $4 million a
decade ago. Makes the temporary drop in cattle
valuation in '03 look fairly insignificant.

[oneoff]

Remember that GF has two divinig rods(witching apparatus) attached out his body (or his confidents) to receive his firmly held beliefs.

When you allow people like that to uncontestedly repeat their unsubstantiated beliefs as facts; they will surely become more brave in attempting to prove their myopic view of their world.

[kato]

So are you thinking $2500. an acre is a good average price? That explains a lot.

To get that kind of price in Manitoba you'd need to sell land that was intended to grow vegetables or build houses on. A potato farmer might pay it, but I haven't seen it happen personally. Land selling around here for 1500 is considered a record price. It doesn't happen often either. Only twice that I know of. And it's good land, too. No big oil money floating around this part of the province looking for a home.

Alberta is not the centre of the universe. It's not a good place to use as an example of what's happening in the rest of the country. There are other parts of the country that live in a totally different reality.

[grassfarmer]

And what was that record price $1500/acre MB land
selling for a decade ago - before BSE?

[oneoff]

The sad reality is that apparently no one learned from the "Alberta growth" example of the last several decades.

And that same experience may well now be underway in portions of nearby Sask.

Just how does infrastructure and already dire health care shortages keep up with a plethoria of building and "mancamps" of 100 to 500 persons (each) moving in under the pretense of "lodges". Try five or six, either built or proposed in less than a 30 mile radius, plus OK'ed trailer courts and equivalents of new villages and towns in rural municipalities. And long term planning hasn't even acknowledged that this is happening; as if anyone cares as long as it is beside other parties and they aren't "affected"; whatever that means.

Rural property taxes went up 20% last year; and I'm predicting maybe a 50% increase in a certain RM this year. After all they have applied for up to 5.5 million in borrowing to cover this years expenses. Previous financial statements have recorded annual surpluses in the order of in excess of 1 million dollars. Thats just how fast one can go from healthy surpluses to not being able to pay the bills from current resources and taxes.

Remind anyone of the last Alberta provincial budget??? So is $2500 what a province wants their farmland to jump to.

[oneoff]

The sad reality is that apparently no one learned from the "Alberta growth" example of the last several decades.

And that same experience may well now be underway in portions of nearby Sask.

Just how does infrastructure and already dire health care shortages keep up with a plethoria of building and "mancamps" of 100 to 500 persons (each) moving in under the pretense of "lodges". Try five or six, either built or proposed in less than a 30 mile radius, plus OK'ed trailer courts and equivalents of new villages and towns in rural municipalities. And long term planning hasn't even acknowledged that this is happening; as if anyone cares as long as it is beside other parties and they aren't "affected"; whatever that means.
We may well be about set to have rotating "emergency services" at small hospitals within health care regions. That will really solve a chronic shortage of rural doctors; when combined with another thousand workers added to look after. This is absurd.... And for officials who decided to spend spent tens of thousands of taxpayers dollars to entice new doctor recruits....show the proof that every last cent wasn't a collossal failure in doing anything other than raising the ceiling of the incentive required to exceed another communities bribe package.
Rural property taxes went up 20% last year; and I'm predicting maybe a 50% increase in a certain RM this year. After all one RM applied for up to 5.5 million in borrowing to cover this years expenses. Previous financial statements have recorded annual surpluses in the order of in excess of 1 million dollars. Thats just how fast one can go from healthy surpluses to not being able to pay the bills from current resources and taxes.

Remind anyone of the last Alberta provincial budget??? So is $2500 what a province wants their farmland to jump to.

[BFW]

The value of your land is nice to talk about over a cocktail during happy hour. What is your return on your new asset value now versus 2003 from cattle production. The herd in Canada has shrunk about 20 % or more I believe in the last few years. Quite the recovery.

[SADIE]

Dog-patch

I am following you comments on both threads and you bring out some very valid points I want to respond to. We are so close to finishing seeding and getting cattle "pairs" for PFRA over this holiday long weekend that I am limited to my time on here.

"front Line veterinarians"--I agree very much with that comment. Some of those are/were close friends and colleagues of mine. Some care about the Cow-calf and the cattle industry.

When I got charged under section 176 of the animal act it was some of those same people that approached me and asked would I take on this challenge. They were frustrated with what was coming down from Central CFIA and Central Canada. All there efforts of coaching and reporting from the "field end" where not being listened too.

They knew I did not need a job with CFIA, They knew I am one CALLUS SON-OF A BITCH that would not back down from Beaurocracy and Bullshit.

We just came out of the HUGE SASKATCHEWAN LANDOWNER MOVEMENT that I volunteered to be "founding President for"and we took on the TYRANNCY OF ENBRIDGE PIPELINES. CAEPLA from SW Ontario taught me how to challenge Big Business, Government and how to get the media onside with you, Build and army and learn the problems by teaching others and share others misfortunes and your own.

This was sorting out the BULLSHIT from the three stooges (I MENTIONED THEM BEFORE)

THE CFIA, THE CCIA and the CCA or other check off cattlemen groups that we have in ALBERTA and SASKATCHEWAN.

Today those ones within CFIA who cared have and were able to retire and get out. Some are back on the farm/ranch and some even went back into a type of practice.

Today now CFIA struggles with new re-cruitment of manpower. Many are foreign and bring a language barrier and do not know western Canada agriculture culture.

When Employed with CFIA you cannot move up the ladder of command if on your evalutation you show any constructive ability of your own. The ones that move up the ladder "appear' To be those that just are willing to buy into the beaurocratic system and become "yes" people.

I was well coached taking on my case from inside.

Will respond to your thread on another post tonight.