Land rush

[wanaka]

What is making all the Alberta farmer's flock to Saskatchewan and inflate the price of land well beyond it's ability to pay for itself. The area around Regina is seeing alot of activity currently,and if the talk is true alot more acres will be changeing hands.

[farmers_son]

What is land selling for there?

[cowdog]

They are flocking there for a number of reasons; land value is the main one, you can sell a 1/4 here and buy 4 or 5 good 1/4's there. Land here is under a lot of pressure from the energy industry and the growth of cities. Your government takes a much more favourable view towards agricult, health care and education services are better and there is a better future for your cildren to grow up and be something more than an oilworker. Saskatchewan really is Canada's best kept secret, its to bad people there don't know how to keep it.

[coppertop]

cowdog, I think that young people have opportunities for careers in many areas other than 'oilworkers' here in Alberta. I don't know what you classify as an 'oilworker' but it certainly isn't that shabby of a career for a young person !! In my own community I know of five young people currently taking their post secondary education at various universities and colleges, none of them are planning on a career in the resource industry. Their career choices vary from medical doctor to agricultural mechanics.I agree that land is certainly a lot cheaper in Saskatchewan, but I doubt if folks are moving there in record numbers so their kids don't have to be oilworkers !!!!!

[cowman]

I think if you studied population movements you would see the shift is out of Saskatchewan and into Alberta? Which only makes sense...people don't as a rule move to a depressed area?
Cheap land is what is attracting Alberta farmers and nothing more? I doubt very many go because they are attracted to the NDP party?
Not sure how the Saskatchewan government is more agriculturally friendly...maby "Sask Farmer" could enlighten us? I think he has a high opinion of Sask. crop insurance? LOL

[skhadenuf]

To cowdog, as a Saskatchewan farmer that has relations farming in Alberta, Saskatchewan does not have a more favorable gov. towards agriculture, education, and health. Just look at the last election results where the communistic NDP were wiped out of nearly every rural area. If they were favorable to these areas they would have the support of those people. What doesn't get published much is the amount of failures that occur from new farmers from other provinces or other countries for that matter. Many British, french etc farmers that moved here because the cheap land lure, have found out it's relatively cheap for a reason and that is tht when times get tough the programs like crop insurance etc ore only good for the empoyees of the program and do very little for the industry.

[wanaka]

Land has been going for around 850/acre and cash rent is in the 45/50 per acre.

[perfecho]

I would have to disagree with the depressed area comment. The last numbers that came out showed Sask as ranking third in development and hiring, after AB and BC.

[cowman]

perfecto: I will agree Saskatchewan is on the move finally. It was pretty bad there a few years ago?
Sometimes I wonder if every other worker in Alberta isn't a native of Saskatchewan...and not just oil field...check out the medical staff in almost any Alberta hospital.
Alberta doesn't have anything more than Saskatchewan. Sask. does have lots of resources and probably better farmland than Alberta? The way I see it is you have had incredibly bad government, which usually is the case when you vote in the NDP!

[perfecho]

And some would argue that they will actually receive more for their natural resources than the sell off in Alberta. During Agribition, the standard joke was "if you were passed on the highway by an idiot, chances are it had Alberta plates."
It is true, Alberta has created much wealth to some, however we now boast the highest food bank use, crime rates and homelessness. And gambling revenues exceed oil revenues, (not natural gas) during many of the last few years.
Is this "planning" in the best interest of Albertans?
I have to admit the ND road scares me, however I can no longer stand up and be counted as a conservative...it's become to embarrassing….but maybe “Eddie” can change that.

[cowman]

Well you might be right...Sask might get more in the long run for oil...who knows? Maybe the old saying" If they pass you they must be an idiot from Alberta" comes from the fact on most Alberta roads the pot holes aren't three feet deep!Dumb Albertans not knowing they are going back fifty years in time when they cross the border! LOL
I believe your gambling figures are wrong? I think it is a bit under $1 million? But whatever...you got to have a dollar if you want to play the slots! I suspect Saskatchewan citizens aren't exactly "shrinking violets" when it comes to gambling? Now maybe I am wrong and they are all little comrades who decry the evil empire? I wonder who spends all that money at your Indian casinos?...Probably evil Albertans?

[ado089]

To answer the initial question...land in the Calgary area is trading for as high as $30,000/ac and it's imposible to farm because there is an acreage on every corner so every time you pull out a sprayer or seed too close to the yard you get some jackass calling you and/or the cops. Your $300-500/ac land around Regina is very attractive to someone who either wants to keep farming or expand for their children. Some will come and go others will stay. Farming in Alberta seems to be allot more profitable, some can transfer that success to sk, but most can't make it work. My suggestion is anytime you talk to someone from Alberta exagerate you land prices to make it less attractive. That is unless you want to sell your land.

[perfecho]

Accutually I am from AB, along the #2 corridor...where I can be thankful that land prices have gone up tremendously...otherwise my farming venture would be a total flop....but then I have to sell. I'll probably wait until the cycle bottoms and then have to sell. Anyways, I am sure your are right about Sask in the gambling end, I doubt any province has left that cash cow alone. As for the oil revenues and gambling revenues, I believe for the last number of years, they have been running almost neck and neck, sometimes one ahead of the other and then visa versa. I have not read anything on the last year or so..would like to find out.

[cowdog]

Whether you agree with what I write or not you must admit I do know how to get a thread moving.
On matters of agricult and farmer's the Sask.'s current government is always the strongest voice followed by Manitoba. Could they do more? Of course they could.
The Alberta government has done a great deal to promote Ag. business at the expense of farmers, such as the funding of the anti-CWB campaign.
Uas the Sask. government taken away your property rights and given them to the energy industry for the lowest royalty regime in the western world, the environment be damned?
How many Sask. mothers to be, are being sent out of the county to give birth? All because of the erossion to public health care.
Do Sask. residents pay Healthcare Fees? Huge school fees for your children? License plates and pivate legislated insurance on every farm truck you use, even though it might only travel a few hundred miles a year?
There should be a sign at every Alberta border crossing saying "WELCOME TO DEAWOOD"(HBO), { no offence intended to the town of Deadwood AB), because that is what this energy boom means for many of us here in Alberta.

[cowdog]

I am a really bad typist please forgive me when you try to decipher to previous entry.