Of Moving and Saskatchewan...

I think every southern Albertan farmer has discussed at least once in their life about moving to Saskatchewan…the land of opportunity, especially if you are in the agriculture business. Though we are next door neighbours, there are many contrasts between the two provinces. The jokes about Saskatchewan being 50 years behind the rest of the country and the place you want to be known as from hold for a reason. Anyways, over the past several years there has been a small, steady migration of farmers over to Saskatchewan because of inexpensive land giving the chance to start a farm or expand present operations which otherwise would be unattainable in southern Alberta. We’ve talked several times about moving over there and, while most times it didn’t get past the talk, we were quite serious a few times. Last year with Saskatchewan land prices still very reasonable, commodity prices higher(where you can actually make farming pay), and selling some land here, we started looking eastward again. Again began the searching of Saskatchewan farmland section in the Western Producer, online farm realty sites, and a few trips out to check several places. Most places the guys had hesitations about for some reason or another but they finally found a place they could get excited about in central Saskatchewan about 6 hours from here. The process was more lengthy and deadlines were moved ahead several times as the farmer did everything through a lawyer because of family issues. Anyways, fast forward through all that, and we finally own a farm in Saskatchewan. I’m sure it will be fun of challenges, disappointments and everything else in between but we are optimistic about the new direction we are heading. We still own land in Alberta so probably only Graham will only be moving over for the time being. The possession date was Dec. 31st but since the previous owners haven’t found another place to purchase yet, they’ll be staying until March which actually works out good for both of us. Stefan and Dad will go over to help seed in the spring. The area is very similar to here and we are planning to use the same farming practices Graham has been using at his place with success. With Graham still owning his farm here and us having ours, I’m not sure how many of us will eventually end up in Saskatchewan. Our place would be a tougher sell but, if it is meant to happen, it will. For the time being we’ll keep discussing all our options and decide what direction we want to take our operations. There have been many minds buzzing with exciting ideas and there haven’t been many dull moments so it will be interesting to see what comes to pass. I’m looking forward to a change…