happy canada day

[blackjack]

...pretty dead on here...lots of first cut going down out here west of red deer...looks like there will be alot of hay again in this area...going to start cutting my own on monday ...pastures are in great shape and the price of grass yearlings have moved up considerablely ...feeling alot more positive about the market than two months ago... well gotta go the kids are riding in the 4-h wagon this morning in the big spruceview parade...

[coppertop]

Lots have hay being baled around here too,and this is early for our area. Lots of grass for the cattle, prices look a bit better than expected so all in all it is a good Canada day.

[cowman]

Have been out of the loop for awhile(crazy oilpatch!) so haven't been following the grass market but glad to hear yearlings are on the way up and I might be able to avoid the poor house for another year! Put 26 heifers out with the bull on the 20th of June.
There are some good hay crops out there. My hay guy has baled the 100 acres of horse hay I grow and has it stacked and tarped. One thing about the horse hay business...not much price variation from year to year...it may go up but seldom down!
Just curious have you heard any prices for round bales?

[cowman]

Blackjack: Just went over to the Alberta Ag website and it looks like just about every category of feeder/grass cattle are down from a week ago? So the numbers for June 30 are lower than June 17th? Maybe I'd better not cancel my reservation at the poor house? LOL

[coppertop]

cowman, highly unlikely you will end up in the poor house unless the oil boom fizzles out. Heck with all the income from CBM development on your property you could throw away the rest of your loot !!!!

[grassfarmer]

It's interesting to notice the different attitude in Alberta to the one in Ontario where farmers were out protesting the plight of their producers in Ottawa yesterday. A few days of sunshine and enough grass for a few weeks and all is seemingly well in the land of oil. Never mind the realities of the situation of the multinationals strangle hold around our necks, record low commodity prices and record low farm incomes. Alberta seems to be dominated by part-timers, amateurs and short term thinkers - no wonder we can't get organised to fight for a better future.

[Ron]

I think we are to busy trying to make $ in the patch to worry about the $$$$$$$$$ we may lose back home? (just go to work and fix your own problem vs crying to the gov. that wont do anything but hire more consultants and experts?)

[grassfarmer]

That's fine if you are content to have a job for a few years to pay the bills with. It's a poor excuse if we are to preserve an agricultural industry in this country that can be sustainable and last for generations.

[coppertop]

I personally do not think that protests are in the best interest of the agricultural industry across the country. I give full marks to those who will stand up and be counted but in the long run urban folks who see row upon row of large farm equipment and have any concept of what its worth may not realize that the farmers are having a tough time paying for the darn stuff much less keeping things held together on the farm.

We are fortunate in Alberta to have an industry that will provide off farm jobs and the opportunity to diversify and perhaps combine farming with a small business venture in the oil patch.EG: cowman and many others.
My neighbour has been mowing and seeding leases for years, he keeps busy and it provides him with a steady income using the same equipment he needs to farm.
Alberta is truly the land of opportunity in these times, and anyone who can't make it farming has options, which is more than farmers in some other parts of Canada have.
The day of sticking to one job whether its farming or welding etc. are over, individuals that succeed think outside the box, and do what they can to use the talents they were were blessed with in order to provide the kind of living they desire. If its impossible to do so, then perhaps we need to lower our expectations.

Having said that, I am concerned with the marketing that is going on in Washington by our provincial leaders. I feel we need to have lower fuel prices at home long before we need to sell more off to any country. And, I will go as far as to say that we need to barter with the US, if they want our fuel, the take our cows as well.

[cowman]

I doubt we will have many farms that will last for generations? This isn't Europe?
Had an interesting conversation with a farmer the other day out on a lease. He was telling me how he was trying to get 60 acres zoned industrial. He was intent on selling the rest of the farm (6 quarters) and retiring. His kids were gone and doing very well in the city. He said they had owned the farm for over 100 years.
I said well it is kind of sad that it will end here and that agriculture is so poor no young people want to do it anymore? His reply "I think we've done our time here. Too many generations working like dogs for next to nothing! It is time we were set free!"
All how you look at it I guess?

[coppertop]

That is but one example of older farmers getting out of the business when the younger generation isn't interested in taking over. My situation is exactly the same, the boys are doing well in the patch and have no interest so this farm will end when I sell it and go to the old folks home !!!!! Hopefully not too soon !!!

[whiteface]

One of my tenants wants to farm more than life itself. A young couple, both from Manitoba, he works in the oilfield and she has an amazing down-to-earth, good hearted personality and work ethic/all farm background. One little girl and another on the way, they are the salt of the earth kind of people that got our country going. Seems a fitting topic for Canada day. What I feel for them is that they would sure like to set up camp here but are already way out of their price range in central Alberta. He does very well financially but the price of a farm around here is higher yet. How the hell do they get in even with that off farm income and the incredible amount of desire that they have. I just wish I knew how to help them. They can't just buy cheaper in Saskatchewan because they know the money is here...can't get in here because the price of the land doesn't allow them to farm it. I don't have a solution but suffice it to say the changes in this area will be rapid and permanent and through no fault of any farmer, there are few or none for young ones comeing up, it is exactly them who will no longer be the dominant figures on the landscape around here. Hope you have a good day all!

[blackjack]

...baling just under way this past weekend cowman ...you know how it is...if it don't rain in the next couple weeks there will be some prime first cut...but if the regrowth on the pastures come to a stall there will be producers back needing to buy some hay...

...some nine weight black steers sold up to 115 at ponoka last week so if the market holds steady at them prices i can live with that...lol...

...i think your right whiteface...in a sense the price of land here in alberta for agriculture has limited the buying to a few...the thing though is the land up for sale seems to move ...so i would expect the oil and gas industry has something to with that...

[grassfarmer]

Interesting comment cowman, "I doubt we will have many farms that will last for generations? This isn't Europe?" What are the people in N America going to live on in future if not food? despite new technology the world needs farmers more than it has ever done - continually feeding more people from a shrinking landbase. Many people like yourself seem to be fooled by low commodity prices in the grain sector or low cattle prices into thinking we are overproducing food and that is why it is worth so little. In fact the world food demand/supply balance has never been tighter and the low prices paid to primary food producers everywhere are a result of monopoly control of the market place by a few greedy people.

[cowman]

grassfarmer: I think the situation is different today than it was twenty years ago. There will always be someone to provide the food...but I doubt it will be the farmers descendents of today?
I don't know what the big picture is but can very clearly see that our farmers are growing old, very few young people are entering agriculture, it is even tough getting immigrant farmers to come here!
Too many years of low prices while inflation has continued to push up costs? That trend seems to be continuing if not increasing?
I'm not sure if this is just a Canada problem or is happening everywhere? How come all these European farmers are coming here(or were) if they have it so rosy there? The Canadian government likes to talk about European and Americans high level of subsidies...but in fact aren't they too having problems with keeping people farming?
I know you think the problem is multi national corporations taking the cream, but is it really that? Food prices make up a minor part of the Canadian or American consumer dollar anymore...not sure about Europe?