Premier Redford... The TRUTH please...

[ColevilleH2S]

WD you want to talk about obscene, lets talk about taxes.

[wd9]

Taxes wouldn't have to be so high if we
didn't give away our resources. Shoot, i'm
done with this one!

[FarmRanger]

I don't disagree that the profits aren't huge wd9.
Not even saying that they aren't too much at the
expense of the province, but a deal was a deal.
Doesn't matter if the govt of the time was
incompetent, ill informed, ignorant, or even
negligent. The rules were well defined and both
sides agreed to them.

Once a technology is developed, sure, charge
more on new development, but after the fact
bitching that someone else is making money
because they risked their capital in the first place?
That's more befitting the Burbert willy mindset
IMHO.

[Choice2U]

I vote for WD9 and Wilagro as co-premiers of Alberta. In the 40's, SK was the 3rd largest province in Canada and had head offices of the oil companies. Saskatchewan's NDP's unfriendly business climate in the 50's drove them all to Alberta so you can thank SK for making Alberta strong. Wilagro and WD9's policies would send them back and I would personally come and thank you.

[Horse]

ASRG Tryed the surface rights board they are a minion for the oil and of no help.
Choiceu2 I wonder just how the oil cos could drill and develop ALTA crude from sask? They drilled here first because it was a giveme and it was cheap to access, and wouldnt it be nice if we still had more left to develop.

[wd9]

Farmranger, they could at least stop
making the same deals.

[grassfarmer]

Did some calculations this morning on the cost of
tractor feeding the cows versus bale grazing type
systems and would be interested to hear others
perspectives and costs.
Our system once we are feeding is silage and/or hay
and/or straw. Cows and weaned calves are all fed out
on pasture with moveable feed bunks/rings and
windbreaks as this serves the joint purpose of intense
land/grass improvement as well as feeding.

So there is a tractor - I've allowed $30k every 10
years to buy it, own it, insure it , maintain and repair
it and assume a zero value at the end (I think this is
probably a higher figure than it need be) The entire
tractor cost is allocated to winter feeding in this
example.
cost per animal/per day fed 7.5c.

Fuel cost to feed the cattle 3.5c/day/per animal fed.

Cost of running gas heat in a quonset to keep 1
tractor, 1 truck, 1 dog and a few small calves warm
1.5c/day/animal fed

Silage wagon - buy it, repair it, maintain it and
depreciate to zero over 15 years (although after 12 it
still works as good as it ever did) @1c/day/animal.

Inventory of feed rings depreciated to zero after 10
years (about right) windbreaks and feed bunks
depreciated to zero after 20 years (probably only
need new wood by then) Total cost @1.5c/day/animal
fed.

Total 15c/day.

Now for the biggie - labor. Feeding 100 animals/hour
giving the feed hauling I'm doing and charging
$20/hr works out to 19c/day/animal fed for a grand
total of 34c/day/animal fed.

I'd like to see figures for bale grazing type systems
with the cost of their tractor ownership factored in
if you have one - even if it sits in the shop most of
the winter there is still a substantial cost to
ownership.

Thinking through these figures I don't see the
advantage to incurring greater wastage through a
bale grazing system other than the labor element.
But how real is the labor cost factor?
It doesn't matter too much to me if it takes 3 hours or
1 hour to feed the cows as I'm not doing an off farm
job in the 2 hours I might save by changing the
system. If you save time by moving fence on bales
once a week versus daily feeding but spend more
time sitting in the house reading you aren't really
making any more money are you? It's a lifestyle
choice and nothing wrong with that.
I'm more inclined when planning systems to use just
the cash costs - tractor, diesel etc and not add in
labor. Then at the end of the year decide when we
made $xxx how well i'm getting paid for my time.
That doesn't mean I'm working for free or not
counting my time. I'm just not adding it in at $20 an
hour for this one small component of the overall
business.
Any thoughts?

[ASRG]

Horse: contact the Farmers Advocate office.....you might be surprized what they can do for you! I have used Carol many times to light a fire under companies and regulators! You should be getting paid an annual rent.....no matter bankruptcy or other assorted bullshit!

[Horse]

Assuming 100 cows and 1.5 cent per cow thats less than 1 gal of fuel/ day I would like to have a tractor that efficent. I have an british leyland that runs cheap but not that chep as for the other figures i dont know. I fed silage 1 yr and the main reason I never went back was the amount of hr put on the tractor but I had a poor setup?

[Choice2U]

Horse..do you want economic development in the past, now or in the the future. We have been the ugly sister for the past 60 years because we hoarded our resource. Alberta for the past 60 years has been a powerhouse. With technology, you will continue IF YOU GET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER. We will spend the next 60 years trying to catch up to you. PS. We might have had our own Leduc gusher if the companies would have felt at home in this province 60 years ago. Point is....a government has to keep their royalties competitive or the business will go elsewhere. If the US develops the Bakken as fast as it seems, we'll both have oil in reserve for a long time given we can't ship it through BC (no pipeline and one big train derailment) and the States won't need it, then what?

[wilagro]

Choice2U: And what is wrong with leaving the oil in the ground for future use?

What is with CONservatives that they want to SELL everything NOW?

Nothing but "ASSET STRIPPERS" even if they have to sell at a loss.

[ColevilleH2S]

Wil are you advocating shutting down the
oil industry and telling half the people
of Alberta to pack their bags and leave?
Because if you are, that is nutbar
territory.

[wilagro]

ColevilleH2S: No I am for orderly development of the industry. Trying to sell a glut and selling at a discount is stupid. All that tarsand oil doesn't have to be developed NOW...what's the rush?