Sask. subsidy

[cowman]

Well it looks like Clay Serby is going to get into the drought relief game, although he says it will have to be less than Albertas largesse! I guess that means 50 cents for grass instead of $4! In reality when it is probably going to cost $600 to feed a cow this winter, who cares? Four bucks or two bucks really is a joke.
I was in getting some salt from my local feed dealer and he was telling me a very popular fertilizer dealer in our area is on the verge of going under. He was pretty lenient with the credit this spring and is in a bind. Been around a long time and was always very community minded...sponsored curling, golf, little league, minor hockey. How many small independent businesses are going to fail here in the drought area?

[rodbradshaw]

Cowman
It must be frustrating for your neighbour as he has worked all his life to build up assets to get caught in a double whammy.

Neighbours are silaging and it is running about 3 ton to the acre on the early seeded crops, they looked not bad from the road. People east of Innisfail are cutting barley for feed in hopes of having something to sell. This has been a weird year. Carrots are none existant, so much for diversification.
Rod

[cakadu]

Our neighbor was telling us that this is the driest he's ever seen it - even in the 30's and he's been around for almost 83 summers now. With all these things coming at a person, it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel or find something to be grateful about at the end of the day. I guess I think about the speaker I heard recently when I went to Moose Jaw. She was a lady that came from South Africa to rural Saskatchewan and saw it as an entrepreneurial goldmine. She has revitalized a small town - girouxville I think it is - and it is doing great guns.

She told us about how she had everything she could ever want in South Africa - BMW, gated house, servants etc., but she didn't have the one thing she truly wanted and that was safety and freedom for herself and her family. We here in Canada and North America don't have any idea about what it's like to walk out and wonder if today is going to be the day that your life is ended by someone else's war. If nothing else, we can be grateful for that. Her message was you need to change and move on in order to get ahead. You've got to think about making alliances that you wouldn't consider before. I really enjoyed what she had to say and she presented it in a very unique fashion.

Sorry to hear about the carrots, Rod. I went to the market the other day wanting to pick some up and lo and behold, there were none. I thought it was because of the poor conditions. There was a news story last week about the Millarville farmers market and how tough it was on market gardeners this year. No where near as much produce to choose from and higher prices because of the scarcity.

Does anyone know how the saskatoon growers are doing?

[wilagro]

Businesses (spelling) will feel the trickle-down effect from this drought. Some will go under and others will rally. As far as our 'made in Alberta' solution...the payment that I will receive will feed my cows for 3 weeks this winter. Too little, too late, too bad, Adios Amigo.

[cowman]

I often wondered how the vegetable growers were making out. I would imagine potatoes would be taking a beating. I talked to a farmer last year, who was harvesting his potatoe crop(I was really impressed by this operation), and it was a poor crop. A lot of small potatoes. He said they only got 5 inches of rain...I wonder what happens when you get 2 inches like this year.
And yet this year the gardens have really done well if you can pour the water to them. A little water and all this heat can really produce! Too bad we couldn't get some irrigation for these more valuable crops.
It would seem to me that the drought compensation package didn't address the vegetable grower very well. I think they only get the $7 deal like the grain guy when they in fact must have a lot more bucks tied up in that crop.
I think a lot of people in the drought area are really confused and frustrated right now. They see the end of their world as they know it. For many it is an end of their operations that they spent a lifetime working at. I guess the important thing is to realize that there is a life after farming and it just might be a good thing in the long run. Only through a lot of pain do we ever truly learn anything.

[rodbradshaw]

Cowman
It is amazing how the potatoes are hanging in and if we could get a rain this weekend we might be able to get as good a crop as we had last year. The vegetables in the dry land area of Central Alberta are suffering and no one could have predicted this dry of a year.

Neighbours were in Innisfail Auction mart yesterday to watch cows sell and it was a little unnerving as cow/calf pairs were bringing less than weaned calves last year. Even people with money can not buy these cows as there is no feed reserves and one doesn't know how long this feeding seson is going to be.

[carebear300]

The subsidy that our intelligent politicans have come up with, is the biggest joke that has ever been perpetuated on agriculture. The federal government is bad and our provincial government is at least as bad. The provincial government is doling out a measly 20 million dollars in drought aid. They should be embarassed to even come out with such a paltry sum. Yes the farmers are desparate and won't send it back but in this day and age that is a mere drop in the bucket. This 2002, not 1937, but then this agriculture we are talking about not government employees, so why would we normal people be surprised. I will try and put it into perspective, at times I wasn't the biggest Grant Devine fan but I remember the last drought in Saskatchewan that just the drought payment for Sask. was over 400 million dollars. Costs definately haven't went down since 1988, have they? Yes the Devine government had lots of faults, but at least agriculture was given a top priority in this province. I guess it will never happen again. Lots of money to subsidize big corporations and hire new government employees, and the biggest ripoff of all hire consultants to analyze and compile reams of reports to improve the situation. I give up these governments are all brain dead when it comes to agriculture. Maybe we as farmers should fund a study to analyze the way governments allocate money. We would tell the consultant that the only way we would hire him is if he comes up with a report that tells us the best way for a government to spend money was on agriculture. That is the way politicians hire consultants to do studies!!!!!! Politics in this province is a lots of BULL----!!!!!!! and very little money for farmers.