Times changed

[farming101]

Quit shipping cream in the 70's here but milked cows by hand for long after that.
1979 first wheat check.
80's, family worked and worked and never really got far. Good thing I wasn't married then.

Guess I'm older. Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Bugs Bunny, Red Skelton, Walt Disney, Forest Rangers. Grandpa would watch Don Messer
Pink Elephant popcorn and a pop. 40 cents? Can't remember. Thrills, Black Cat and Double Bubble bubblegum with the Pud comics inside

Family just had a half ton to ride around in when we were small. Seat belts?

I am sure my parents sheltered us from the worries and fears. Thankfully home was a haven.

[bucket]

Many will argue with me about he it happened but I watched areas get cleaned out on the 70s ....friends moved away...then the 80s where there wasn't enough of anything to support transitions of generations. ...


Government policy or lack thereof pushed the industry to where it is...


Remember when Canada was the breadbasket of the world....no more our position has been given to the FSU...

And our system can brag about the records they ship....but it's not keeping pace with production...and there are always excuses as to why it doesn't get fixed...

Phuck sakes we can't even make our own mask supply with the raw material we have....

[STR1]

I think this spring with what is happening in the world had made almost everyone think about life on the farm growing up in simpler times. Or at least they seemed simpler maybe because we were kids. I see my grandkids on the farm and I think they have the same view of today’s farm life as I did when I was a kid, they live like kids should, not being worried about anything as long as their parents are happy and they have a safe, warm place to call home and food to eat.
I believe back in “the day” our parents (mine are long since gone) had allot of stresses, maybe different stresses than today but stresses none the less.
As parents and grandparents I believe it’s our job to shelter our children from seeing these stresses so someday they can grow up and say “WOW those were the days”.
Listening to my kids talk about life on the farm in the 90s I know I did a good job giving them a great childhood, and there was a ton of stress, but I never wanted them to see it as a child!

[ajl]

There are two factors that contributed to this rather rapid change and both are artificial: The first is phenomenal growth in government which created good paying, relatively easy, jobs in the city so people moved away for that. The second is related to the first and that is the rise in central banking which suppressed interest rates below the market rate and made capital cheap compared to labor. This promoted rapid expansion in farm size and it also promoted land hoarding by the elderly. Now there was no opportunity in rural area for the young as well. Fast forward to today and government can no longer afford the workforce that it has so that will correct the first problem making a lot of labor once again available. A rise in the rate of interest as long as it doesn't go very high rapidly will promote "right sizing" among the larger agricultural players which could make opportunities available in rural areas again.

[sumdumguy]

I am sure my parents sheltered us from the worries and fears. Thankfully home was a haven.[/QUOTE]

80’s were lentil years, droughts every even year, high prices every odd. We walked away from CWB, never sold a bushel to them ever again. 90’s, no matter how you pencilled, we couldn’t make positive margin. But our home and farm were our castles. From life we took refuge there, kids learned to build and fix and tinker, make rail riders, dune buggies, hatch pheasants, quail, chuckers, killer roosters. (These chuckers were good guys. )😂 Today, when we have a city kid around us (even some farm kids) they can’t use a measuring tape.
Yung uns- take time to teach them everything you know and more. Free time now.

[Hamloc]

Sheepwheat great topic and Blackpowder seeing as how we are both 55 our memories of TV are very similar. I remember my Dad would go ballistic if I talked on a long distance call for more than a minute, he watched his pennies very carefully. Back then no cell bill, no internet bill, we might eat at a restaurant 3 or 4 times a year. I remember standing up in the back seat of the car on the way to town but there was a lot less traffic then. I am sure my Dad had stresses he worked long days, only saw him at meal time or Sunday afternoon. I remember falling asleep behind the seat of the John Deere 5020 while he was cultivating, when I look at an old 5020 today it amazes me. It was certainly fun growing up on the farm, I am certainly glad my kids had the same opportunity.

[bucket]

Sheepwheat great topic and Blackpowder seeing as how we are both 55 our memories of TV are very similar. I remember my Dad would go ballistic if I talked on a long distance call for more than a minute, he watched his pennies very carefully. Back then no cell bill, no internet bill, we might eat at a restaurant 3 or 4 times a year. I remember standing up in the back seat of the car on the way to town but there was a lot less traffic then. I am sure my Dad had stresses he worked long days, only saw him at meal time or Sunday afternoon. I remember falling asleep behind the seat of the John Deere 5020 while he was cultivating, when I look at an old 5020 today it amazes me. It was certainly fun growing up on the farm, I am certainly glad my kids had the same opportunity.

Kids today can appreciate it but it would be pretty hard for them to start like guys did even a short 20 years ago...

Work off farm to buy a quarter for 30000....was an option....today you would have to spend many years working to afford the same quarter...And when you got that money put away ....more than likely the risk wouldn't be rewarded....

[jazz]

Sheep, you need to recollect the 80s a bit closer. That decade was the water shed of this industry. People barely hung on and then the govt told them to get big or get out. A lot of the BTOs you see are the ones that took govt advice to heart. You know what happened to the rest. A lot of dads wanted their kids to have nothing to do with that hardship.

It would be great if more of our young people had some connection with the land instead of stuffing themselves into condos, but the risk vs reward is what they are looking at. That could change after this virus stuff. I mean a quarter of land in sask looks a hell of a lot better than a condo petri dish in Toronto now. Self sufficiency is a big plus.

I will just also point out that the world is too interconnected now, when events and policies made by other govts and non elected officials can come and hit you where it hurts its too much. Its hard enough keeping our own idiot politicians inline, I don't want the WHO or UN or China affecting my life.

[Guest]

101 , looks like we are same vintage , same tv shows ,lol, went to the patch for a few years before first wheat check, though
no cows to milk , just pigs to look after and then get pigs shit washed off before the bus came
if extra money needed , it was coyote , beaver, mink and muskrat hides , then ship them to dominion soudak in mb.
bonanza was the highlight of the week , grandma never missed don messer
pop and bag of chips was a quarter
still, nothing like the smell of dirt in the spring, when everything is coming back to life
saturday nights in our little town brought everyone out , town was booming
apparently ,was even a gunfight once, never saw it
those were the days

[agstar77]

You may get your wish. This may be the year large operations hit the wall. Maybe ask SF3 what the future looks like, and is it worth risking everything.

[foragefarmer]

Reminiscing about growing up on the farm has many fond memories, but is best summed up by Hal Ketchum "Small Town Saturday Night".

Good clean simple fun!

[Horse]

Kids today can appreciate it but it would be pretty hard for them to start like guys did even a short 20 years ago...

Work off farm to buy a quarter for 30000....was an option....today you would have to spend many years working to afford the same quarter...And when you got that money put away ....more than likely the risk wouldn't be rewarded....

I have to disagree ,I bought my first land in 1973 ($40) per acre less than half cleared,good land was close to $200 ,most jobs paid in the area of $1.25/1.75 per hr. I run buggy north of peaceriver on the railroad in !962 got $2.75 .
Today $30 plus for same job,land around here is likely 1200/1400 per acre. The biggest problem I see is lack of markets,cream,hogs,elevators,trucking. Had a small feedlot back in the late 60s ,could get bids from 6 packers and they would even sort for you,now last I sold was 35 hfrs,major feedlot sold for me but they offered 6 trailer loads and WAS STILL OVER A WEEK FOR DELIVERY So I dont bother anymore. No place to start on a small scale,Who can or wants to jump in for millions.
I for one miss the cwb as if I needed a little cash I could load up 50 bu bly dump in pit get cheque and away i went, but I never really grew grain for sale I grew feed and sold excess, Sucks to be a STO I guess