Is Monette Farms like Bernie Madoff?

[blueversi]

A big front for laundered foreign $$$.

He is just a name, started with SFA, got someone to fund it all, using his name to be legal.

A friend knew him in tech school and it's all BS.

Can same be said about the big farm in your area I wonder or are they self made?

[FarmJunkie]

It can be farmed but with lots of cash and time to clean it up. Oh and lots of painful experiences. Not for me when I’m used to what I got. If u drive thru these areas they’ve just bought u will understand better that some land is better left the way it was for the purpose it has been being used for.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Or are they making a bet that the recent warming trend has, or is going to transform the fringes into productive cropland? On an operation that size, taking the risk to get in on the ground floor of what might be the next land boom, might be worth a try.

[wheatking16]

Or are they making a bet that the recent warming trend has, or is going to transform the fringes into productive cropland? On an operation that size, taking the risk to get in on the ground floor of what might be the next land boom, might be worth a try.

I bet this is both.

A big bet but not for that operation.

[Taiga]

This must be a pretty sleepy area if neighbours are up in arms about land clearing for ag development. Doesn’t really sit right with me having neighbours complaining about what somebody else is doing on their property, however I realize this is on a much larger scale than normal.

[wrongway]

This must be a pretty sleepy area if neighbours are up in arms about land clearing for ag development. Doesn’t really sit right with me having neighbours complaining about what somebody else is doing on their property, however I realize this is on a much larger scale than normal.

generational farms in the area no doubt saw a bunch of farmers come and go with big ideas...when they leave it's all thistles and tansy till the poplars and cattails once again take over.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

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generational farms in the area no doubt saw a bunch of farmers come and go with big ideas...when they leave it's all thistles and tansy till the poplars and cattails once again take over.

I would be more optimistic.
If this land/climate proves to be better suited to pasture/hay than cropping, and this venture fails, the locals may have the option to buy vastly improved land for below what was invested in the improvements.
Last I checked, cows prefer to eat grass than poplar trees. But the economics of clearing land for marginal pasture may not work. Let someone else do it.

Either that or else the drought is perpetual and this area is the new breadbasket. The the displaced cattlemen can become ranchers in southern Sask on land where grain can no longer be grown.

[jamesb]

Regarding land clearing, I know in my area there is a heck of a lot of bush being pushed. Go back before the 50's and there wasn't tree there historically. For a lot of time there was the attitude that it was cheaper to buy more land than push bush. Not so anymore. Land values are dictating that land that can be farmed must be brought into production. Today with a cheap drone overfly to create a pretty good topo map, its easy to move a little dirt or throw in a tile to consolidate lots of the bluffs. Its true that there is land that will be cleared that is not fit to farm but with direct seeding, light land isn't the wind erosion risk that it was years ago. Regarding the people with the petition who don't like bush pushing, put there money where their mouth is and buy the land. We had a guy locally here bad mouthing a farmer who pushed newly bought land. This guy was a town guy who always hunted this particular land and was unhappy to see the trees gone. Once he became vocal, lots of other land became off-limits to him as other neighbor's were ticked that a guy that didn't own the land was being vocal about its use.

[Crestliner]

The one that needs the kick in the teeth here is the Western Producer. The article is an absolute bowl of word sh**!
Love what Monette does or not your choice, but for a "so called" mainline ag paper to write such a garbage piece is using up paper not fit for the bathroom.
I am astonished at the low level so called journalism can go today. This is the best and latest news a 25 cent hired man working for a tired old useless paper can come up with...it really just is defamation of character.
This article fits in with the same drivel that comes from the local coffee row 6 guys that know it all that sit and have a crap breakfast with the same old bunch rehashing and embellishing made up news from the day before.
In Saskatchewan we have the Maker's the Taker's and the Bitcher's....the latter 2 are driven by jealously, hatred and envy.
Just like the garbage article Hirsch (another 25 cent contributor to Ag society) wrote about Monette 300 pieces of equipment they traded....useless garbage.
Note to the Western Producer...we don't care to know or are we interested in the business dealings of private individuals business and individuals.
Thanks for reminding me why I canceled my subscription 10 years ago.
You should stop this **it before you get your ass sued off for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Crestliner, that is the exact response I thought this story deserved. Well said

[fjlip]

Can same be said about the big farm in your area I wonder or are they self made?

Absolutely impossible to get that big in 15 years...we all wonder how? It works till it doesn't.

[the big wheel]

At some point should there not be a discussion about clearing new land on that type of scale? I mean do we not understand as farmers that the market will be using that excuse to lower our prices? Second are we gone way past the point of worrying about smaller communities sustainability, lets face it larger farms have been a major cause of disappearing and struggling smaller communities? Or are we just in a free for all now with every aspect of our future?