How prevalent is this?

[Horse]

horse, where my son's property is located a $450,000 home isn't a mansion by any stretch of the imagination !!!! His home is modest compared to the average home near Calgary with a view of the mountains.
A rancher friend of mine said they aren't building houses near Cochrane anymore they are building HOTELS !!!

[Eastcoaster]

We here in the Maritimes have been going through "leaving the farm" stage here now for at least the last 30 years.Probally over 90 percent of our beef operators have off farm income. These guys are the the last of generations that made a living from the land.They continue to operate the farm because it is what they love to do and because it was in the family for so long. Our region is so small in the industry, it is hard to compete with the larger western areas but we keep trying. I worked at a plant for 30 years and kept the farm going as well but there is no comparison in the lifestyle one can afford with that type of income compared to farming, beef at least. The younger people here just see that as plain as day now and there are next to no new entrants. What I am thinking is that you western guys are probally at where we were 30 years ago with the start of death of a lot of operations. There will be guys that give it up quite quickly when they see the income they can make in other professions and others that will continue for some time because it is what they know and what they believe. Unless something radically shifts this is going to continue to happen for some time.I don't know how to change it. I know there will always be a need for for food to be grown but with the technological changes and political setup we have there just won't be the number of operations required. If you guys have some suggestions on how to stop this evolutuion we would love to hear them. It is a sad thing to see all our land growing up in alders, and until alders are worth something, I feel our industry here is going to continue the same path until it is completly gone.

[Eastcoaster]

Eastcoaster, it depends on what area in AB. one talks about whether farmers are working off farm or are still full time farming.
In the resource based communities such as the one where I live many farmers have small businesses or work in the petroleum industry or the local Weyerhauser Mill and run small cow/calf operations, or larger cow/calf operations if they have a good wife that can feed and calve cows, or a son still at home etc.
In many areas of AB. farming is full time, in the Peace Country there are huge grain and grass seed operations, and in the south there are many large operations that are either grain or livestock or both that require a full time committment. In other areas of the province there are still many full time farmers, but as you indicated it is certainly not an industry that is attracting many young people nor are many young folks that grew up on the farm staying on the farm .

[cowman]

Horse: Armitage Brothers never went broke. They sold off most of their land and feedlot to a purbred outfit. This is some of the land they kept. The younger generation didn't want to continue with farming and at least one of them has gone into road construction. I would assume he will be doing a lot of the construction on this project.
The feedlot is empty except for the purebred cattle.

[cowman]

One other thing. This land where this "hamlet" is going in is very productive farmland. Now instead of grain,hay and cattle growing there we will have houses,dogs and kids! When all the good land is gone, where are we going to grow the food?

[sagewood]

Well all you folks are right--however, until this country values food as much as it does oil and gas, the beat will go on. People will pay big bucks for oil and gas, but ask for an increase to make ag. food a little more profitable and they scream bloody murder and site all the cases of government helping out farmers/ranchers etc. etc. Instead of calling all of these idiot government programs as 'ag. assistance', how about let's call them what they are--support for a fair price for a product that people cannot do without--I darn sure can heat my home another way if need be, and I can still ride a horse and/or walk for transportation, but by golly, I simply cannot get by without food---quality food and lots of it year round is the first need of mankind--somehow, mansions, 'toys', vehicles worth $200,000 etc. have all passed by food.

So in answer to you question about where our food will come from when all the ag. land is paved over and all the young people have moved to the city for jobs etc...we will pay some other country for importing all of our food--then watch the price increase, the quality decrease and the line ups for food will be evident across Canada--ever see news reels of Europeans lining up for food? They are not about to let their ag. industry go under--lots of them still remember what it is like to be hungry for years and what they got to eat was molded and rotten....history will repeat itself, however, it will repeat itself in Canada and not in Europe...yes, I have to have some off-farm income to keep going, but you know--I do what I can to keep the bills current, but am sticking with my hay and my cows--my first and last love as a way to make a living and enjoy my work...

[countryguy]

Excellent post Sagewood!!

[grassfarmer]

Agree with your sentiments Sagewood but the European analogy isn't quite right in my experience - certainly not in Britain although it may still exist in France and to a lesser extent Italy. Survivors of the two world wars certainly did remember the lessons of the wartime hunger and reliance on overseas food. Unfortunately the current generation of political leaders are born post war and the lessons have been lost on them - Blair in Britain is 100% happy to have zero agriculture and import everything which shapes his Ag. policy.
With the issue of importing or transporting food across the world we really should be getting smarter - it's not only a case of what happens if supply is interrupted but also a case of how much it costs to stock Canadian shelves with Brazilian / Australian etc produce. Unfortunately the politicians can only think one dimensionally and can't see beyond the $ and cents of the product on the shelf to the real financial, human, environmental and ethical cost of landing that product here.

[sagewood]

Yes, of course I am showing my age, and those I hang out with by remembering the war and the shortages of food in Europe and here in Canada and the rationing that went on even after the war...however, your point of the interruption of the transfer of food was well taken--and was mostly my point--when you cannot feed yourself, all the outside factors, such as transportation can hold you hostage. I guess they have not paved over Saskatchewan yet, and are unlikely to do so if we pave the land that supports ag. in Alberta, then we can all move to Sask. Having originally migrated from there as a child, I can attest to the fact that they have wonderful, heavy 'gumbo' soil, that on a good year will produce till the bins burst and the grazing lands are vast.

[cowman]

Actually we just keep producing more food everyday on less and less land?
It does bother me however that much of the really good land is going under pavement? Take a drive east or south of Red Deer and watch them strip 3 to 4 feet of black loam off the fields! It is really a nuisance to find a place to stockpile it. The high berm around the Red Deer dump(480 acres) is totally black loam!
Meanwhile on the poor land further east you can't grow much other than scrubby grass and brush...just no top soil and too much sand and gravel. Whenever it comes to city growth and saving the farm land you can bet the city will always win? That is why I kind of laugh when someone says it is important to save farm land...it just isn't going to happen.