How prevalent is this?

[cowman]

A younger neighbor has farmed with his Dad for about the last twenty years. Probably around 1200 acres maybe 100 cows. Always worked in the winter for a short time drilling on the big rigs.
When the drought hit and then BSE, just stayed on the rig got his crop custom seeded, hay put up custom. The old man could still feed the cows and this guy worked at home when he could.
Because he was very competent soon he was the drilling consultant making the big bucks! He sold his cows last fall. Told me his dad was getting too old to feed and calve them. Still intends to plant a crop and will rip up his hay and whatever pasture he can. Told me the income from the farm was such a joke he couldn't waste a lot of time bothering with it!
Now this is not some fly by night family but an old pioneer family that has been there forever? How often is this happening? When you can make more money in a few months, with not a penny laid out, than you can make in a year with a huge investment?
I suspect this same scenario is being played out all over Alberta?
Two years ago a landman for an oil company paid me a visit about a pipeline. The winter after the drought. He told me him and his brother and his Dad had run 450 cows out east but had made the decision to quit rather than buy in expensive feed. And he told me they all had got good jobs and wondered why they hadn't done it years before!
I know the reality of agriculture is kind of dismal but I still find these sort of things kind of sad?

[silverback]

I think it is very common in Alberta these days. Younger guys are no longer willing to sacrifice with nothing when they can do some extra work and support the family easier.

[cswilson]

Was like that here with the pulpmill too but now it's going to close the ones that kept their cows are smiling. The problem with wages tooo good to be true is that what booms usually busts but if your're a young guy it would be hard to resist for sure.

[PureCountry]

EXACTLY cswilson! They better save all the cash they can while it's flowin' 'cause it won't flow forever. Problem with most guys I know that dive into the oil money, is they - or their wives - become more proficient at spending than saving.

Keep in mind the fact that you have to enjoy what you're doing. Yeah, yeah it's been said a thousand times, but I'm sayin it again anyway. When the day comes your family is layin' you in the ground, do you want to be remembered as a guy who was good at baby-sitting rigs? Or maybe a guy who was good at running a cat or hoe?

Personally I think the most honorable professions in this country get NONE of the credit they deserve. How about the police/Mounties that keep us safe and work to enforce our laws? How about our firefighters and emergency medical people who LIVE on call to keep us safe and save lives? How about our military service men and women who devote and risk their lives to ensure we sleep easy at night and enjoy the freedoms we do? I'll end there but there's so many people that do so much for our communities, with truly honorable work, but the ones making RIDICULOUS money in the oilfield are envied?

Shame I say. Absolutely pathetic.

For those of you who live in parts of the country where there is little or no oil and gas activity, I ENVY YOU. Cherish your communities that still have that small town feel, stick to your standard time zone, get together with church/youth groups, scrapbook clubs, grazing clubs, gun clubs and what-have-you.

If there's one cliche that comes to mind, it would most certainly be:

EVERYTHING THAT GLITTERS, IS NOT GOLD.

[PureCountry]

As I have said before I live in the heart of the oilpatch and have for years. I honestly do not think that everyone envies those who work here and earn the big bucks.
Communities that have the affluence and resource based community brings also have the headaches and heartaches. Drugs are a huge concern in many such communities as are kids in crisis a lot of which can be tied to affluence and indulgence by the parents who have the bucks !!!

I guarantee that the marriage breakup rate is considerably higher in the above communities, as are problems with alcohol abuse etc.
Earning large incomes doesn't necessarily mean living the good life, depending on what your definition of the good life is !

I see a lot more burned out retired folks from the oilpatch than I do burned out old farmers and ranchers regardless of how much they have worried about the weather, paying bills etc. Chasing the big bucks takes its toll !!!!!

[ALLFARMER]

Working the oilfield today isn't what it was 20/30 years agoe. To make decent money $25/$30/hr you will not be home. My brother in law makes $30 or maybe a little better moving rigs. He was home 3 or 4 times all last winter for part of the weekend. I was asked at the elevator 3 years back come move rigs, the guy made me an offer but it was less than I was making hauling logs. It's kind of like Fort McMurray, I know of about 8 people who moved in but have decided to move back out. Go to the Ft. Mc Murray news paper www.fortmcmurraytoday.com you see tons of jobs but do you see any offering huge wages? No! Look at their housing costs www.suzanneanderson.com
I'll pass thanks.

[ALLFARMER]

The cost of living is always higher in resource based communities, many of the added cost are due to transportation costs if the community is fairly remote.

Being away from ones family isn't what most people choose to do, and working in the oil patch in Alberta for the big bucks usually means you will work away from home at least part of the time.
From what I have observed over the years it seems that the more money people make the higher the standard of living they want.
In my community the size of the new houses is just crazy, people saddle themselves with a huge mortgage, vehicle lease payments etc. just to play the role, but if and when the boom goes bust there will be a lot of cheap houses on the market !!!

[cowman]

emerald: I know what you mean! You would not believe some of the mansions around here! The desire to have more is very apparent with the proposed developement of two "hamlets" near Red Deer. Housing in these two areas aren't going to be for financially challenged!
The one hamlet is being developed on land, in part, belonging to Armitage Bros. who ran a fairly large feedlot(7000 hd) until about a year ago. They are involved in this developement...guess there is more money in houses than feeding steers!
It also is interesting to note one of the other partners is a former councillor who also sat on the municipal planning commission, until this year?

[rookie]

well thank goodness for choice.

And don't forget variety is the spice of life.

Not everyone wants a subsistence style of life in the back 40, or hustling 14 hour days in the patch, or a 7:30 to 4:30 factory job. But as long as it takes all of these occupations to make our world tick they will be there and those who will choose to do them for a while.

I personally tried a few of them over the years and frankly speaking had to because I don't have a 8 hour a day high paying desk job.

I'm glad I have the choice and opportunity.

[Horse]

Yes and when the rationalization[ bust ] comes it will all be someone elses fault if people were paid a reasonable wage mabey it would be more sustanible.
Emerald didnt you mention your sons $450,000 house does anyone realy need such a mansion.
Didnt Armitage Bros go bankrupt to the tune of 8 Mill and now are into realestate development, I felt sory for them because they worked many yr to build up thier operation just to loose it now mabey they didnt do as bad as I thought.

[Horse]

horse, where my son's property is located a $450,000 home isn't a mansion by any stretch of the imagination !!!! His home is modest compared to the average home near Calgary with a view of the mountains.
A rancher friend of mine said they aren't building houses near Cochrane anymore they are building HOTELS !!!

[Eastcoaster]

We here in the Maritimes have been going through "leaving the farm" stage here now for at least the last 30 years.Probally over 90 percent of our beef operators have off farm income. These guys are the the last of generations that made a living from the land.They continue to operate the farm because it is what they love to do and because it was in the family for so long. Our region is so small in the industry, it is hard to compete with the larger western areas but we keep trying. I worked at a plant for 30 years and kept the farm going as well but there is no comparison in the lifestyle one can afford with that type of income compared to farming, beef at least. The younger people here just see that as plain as day now and there are next to no new entrants. What I am thinking is that you western guys are probally at where we were 30 years ago with the start of death of a lot of operations. There will be guys that give it up quite quickly when they see the income they can make in other professions and others that will continue for some time because it is what they know and what they believe. Unless something radically shifts this is going to continue to happen for some time.I don't know how to change it. I know there will always be a need for for food to be grown but with the technological changes and political setup we have there just won't be the number of operations required. If you guys have some suggestions on how to stop this evolutuion we would love to hear them. It is a sad thing to see all our land growing up in alders, and until alders are worth something, I feel our industry here is going to continue the same path until it is completly gone.

[Eastcoaster]

Eastcoaster, it depends on what area in AB. one talks about whether farmers are working off farm or are still full time farming.
In the resource based communities such as the one where I live many farmers have small businesses or work in the petroleum industry or the local Weyerhauser Mill and run small cow/calf operations, or larger cow/calf operations if they have a good wife that can feed and calve cows, or a son still at home etc.
In many areas of AB. farming is full time, in the Peace Country there are huge grain and grass seed operations, and in the south there are many large operations that are either grain or livestock or both that require a full time committment. In other areas of the province there are still many full time farmers, but as you indicated it is certainly not an industry that is attracting many young people nor are many young folks that grew up on the farm staying on the farm .

[cowman]

Horse: Armitage Brothers never went broke. They sold off most of their land and feedlot to a purbred outfit. This is some of the land they kept. The younger generation didn't want to continue with farming and at least one of them has gone into road construction. I would assume he will be doing a lot of the construction on this project.
The feedlot is empty except for the purebred cattle.

[cowman]

One other thing. This land where this "hamlet" is going in is very productive farmland. Now instead of grain,hay and cattle growing there we will have houses,dogs and kids! When all the good land is gone, where are we going to grow the food?