Jensco

[countryguy]

Hi Jensco

I understand you moved to Manitoba from another province to farm?If so what opportunities did you see here that made you choose here over other places?Are you into cropping or livestock?Myself I am in the parkland area.What corner did you folks settle into?Geez,lotsa questions.Hope I'm not being too nozy!!

[jensco]

Country Guy

Not too nosy at all!!! We moved out here to get away from the rat race. In Ontario, in the Kitchener area, an acre of land goes for approximately 4-5000$. We always wanted to have a little land to make a mess of and so far we are right on schedule!

Why we picked here, outside the Minnedosa area, is still a mystery. The land we bought is rolling with plenty of water and some bush. Lots of places for the boys to play.

So far we have chickens (layers and meat), turkeys, ducks, a horse and sheep! Did we miss anything?!

This year we are planting Saskatoons and a small apple orchard....guess we didn't have enough to do! Our roots in agriculture are mostly in apples - small orchard of about 2000 fruit trees- and a short stint in baby beef.

Later, as we get things sorted out (or they sort us out) we hope to raise saddle horses. If all goes well, we will be running an efficient, clean, profitable enterprise with a little diversity for security.....yeah I know it was hard to type that line without laughing too!!! Realistically, we should be done by about 3240.

As far as "why Manitoba"......why not! The people we have met are very friendly and not afraid to point out errors before we make them-LOTS of pointing! The area is so clean we feel guilty about moving in. Some of us had trouble making the adjustment to being "real farmers" but the rewards have proven to exceed the faults. If you want to know if it was smart moving here.....ask us in 20 years, we'll still be here!

As far as picking Alberta or Saskatchewan or......just blind luck. Work was available in an acceptable range with hours in an acceptable range. This allows us to pay for setting up and covers the cost of bad decisions we make (we're on the bell curve). We had looked in Alberta and in BC but the first "complete package" was Manitoba. Both formentioned provinces seem to be past the "big explosion". Manitoba's tax has nowhere to go but down, the education system is good with an acceptable level of opportunities for the kids. If it was just the 2 of us....who knows, we turned down alot more money to work elsewhere but to us the kids are an important part.

Hope this answers your question. If you want a more in depth or we missed a question or whatever...let me know.

Jensco

[countryguy]

Wowzers Jensco thanks for the great reply!

I admire your determination, enthusiasm and optimism for agriculture.It's also nice to see that you chose to put the important things in life before money.I really like the area you settled in,it's some beautiful country.

Ourselves we run what I guess you would call an average size grain farm these days.Until the last year we have been growing traditional crops but we are now going into grass seed production,seeding down some forages,and getting back into some beef cattle.We were very lucky to last spring find a couple in central Alberta that had to sell because of the drought the exact cattle we were looking for.They then this fall sold us his '01 heifers and we hope to buy more from them.I feel grass crops and forages are what we need to be growing in our area.When we finally phase out the grain in a few years I also hope to experiment with a few other things that I just don't have the time to do now.

If you ever want to come for a drive to the other side of the mountain I'd be glad to so you folks around.Best of luck to you.

Countryguy

[countryguy]

If anyone else would like to share a little info on themselves please do so.I'm fairly new here and really don't know much about anyone.It may help to understand ones point of view if we knew a little bit from where they are coming from.

[rookie]

I do find it kinda interesting from reading the various comments from the contributors and end up wondering who what and where . If you know what I mean...

[ianben]

Hi Guys
I farm in the UK near Liverpool. Mostly grain now, BSE saw off the barley beef.
I looked at moving to Canada in 95 came over about this time of year to Hamiota and looked at farms around Minnidosa then.
I must admit I fell in love with the place the sky, the friendly people and the space.-35C was warmer than the damp cold we get here with C. Alberta and Sask just don't do it for me dont know why.
After a couple more trips I eventually bought a farm in 98 not too far from Winnipeg but the deal fell through.
Kids at wrong age educationally to move now so guess it might never happen.
Perhaps it was not meant to be. Good luck to you both.

[Muttley]

Well since we are all trying to get to know each other here's my bit.
Farm between Regina and Saskatoon Sk.I used to be a grain farmer till a couple of years ago then switched to all cattle. We mostly run a purebred cow/calf opertation with the breeds Angus and Gelbvieh.
I'm one of those many farmers out there pondering our future in agriculture as both my wife and I have had to go back to some off farm employment to try and get through this drought.
I have been on Agri-ville for some time and usually find it one of my first and many stops of the day.

[cowman]

Because of my personality I am extremely interested in other people! I like to think we have revealed a lot of our own particular personalities over these threads. It can't really be any other way really, can it?
I suspect we are all similar in a way! First of all we all have a deep love for the land! And
in that we are mostly seeking some answers in regard to:what the hell is happening to our world?" A world that most of us never questioned as kids? or maybe I'm wrong here; was my life so different than most?
Here I am. 49/DSM/likes to walk on the beach!!! oops sorry wrong ad!!! Seriously: my future is my son! I do intend that he will get his chance! If I have imparted the things he really needs to know then he will be okay, if not he won't! That's all she wrote!
I have a disease. It will kill me!Nothing I did gave me this disease! It was not my fault, just fate! I am very satisfied that I have lived my life in a way I am not ashamed of and I will go to my maker with a strong sense of who I am! But, God willing, I have a few more years? Can any of us ask for more?

[cowman]

Because of my personality I am extremely interested in other people! I like to think we have revealed a lot of our own particular personalities over these threads. It can't really be any other way really, can it?
I suspect we are all similar in a way! First of all we all have a deep love for the land! And
in that we are mostly seeking some answers in regard to:what the hell is happening to our world?" A world that most of us never questioned as kids? or maybe I'm wrong here; was my life so different than most?
Here I am. 49/DSM/likes to walk on the beach!!! oops sorry wrong ad!!! Seriously: my future is my son! I do intend that he will get his chance! If I have imparted the things he really needs to know then he will be okay, if not he won't! That's all she wrote!
I have a disease. It will kill me!Nothing I did gave me this disease! It was not my fault, just fate! I am very satisfied that I have lived my life in a way I am not ashamed of and I will go to my maker with a strong sense of who I am! But, God willing, I have a few more years? Can any of us ask for more?

[jensco]

It is so great to have so many share a little bit of us! Hopefully, others will share as well.

Thanks everyone for sharing - because I must admit it is a little weird to have your "name" posted as a topic.