A Question not a odd for a change

[malleefarmer]

Is mixed farming in western Canada dead?

My favourite farming site and see similar challenges to us guys here in Aust.

Seemingly most profitable farms in aust are wheat sheep operations say 60% of land for crop and 40% of lesser land for sheep and or cattle. Or maybe 70/30.

Spreads risks gives land a break from chemical resistance and sheep lambs wool and cattle are in the stratosphere here have been inching up over last 5 years.

Here the stories to hard work with sheep etc etc.

Will rephrase the question a bit the must have been "traditional" mixed farming areas are they now all crop?

Have a few friends south of the border in montana and nd and they still have mixed farms maybe there land is cheaper.

Catch 22 often is cropping land is that expensive you have to crop the shit out of it and hope for that one in 5 year massive windfall to pay farm off sort of a merry go round if you don't get that big year.

Yeah I know another mallee question I'm always pondering

[farmaholic]

Mallee... In some parts of Western Canada the weather(winter) is pretty harsh for livestock. Not the easiest way to make a living here. Feed them long time or provide feed for them somehow since peak grazing season is short. I know Grassfarmer is way more qualified than me to answer the grazing issues. Management!

Goats for the growing ethnic population that eats them?

Some land is pretty much only suited for livestock and not crop production. But thats not saying you can't or shouldn't use arable land to raise livestock. Economics.

This farm had livestock since it began but I don't have anything now...only a blueheeler dog. It was a bit of an Old McDonald E-I-E-I-O farm until I decided I didn't want to do hogs or laying hens for personal use. Then slowly culled our way out of cattle until the last couple left in about 2013. Can't see starting again, me anyway.

[malleefarmer]

yeah forgot about harsh climate actually was a dumb question.....

[westernvicki]

No, its' not a dumb question Mallee: most of the baby boomers were raised on mixed farms.
Then in the 70s the impetus was on specialization. Many farms had a small herd, pigs even a few chickens to utilize the marginal land and labour engaged on the operation. The industry pushed to commodity production and with that came a host of the new crops: canola, peas, lentils, and more recently progressively smaller new crops like fava, northern soy, and really new: hemp and quinoa all of which provided diversity and often higher returns.

Those livestock operators who did survive the specialization trend were hit bad by BSE, and while BSE tortured the beef and bison industry at the same time, many on farm pig barns closed due to failing margins (chickens is quota so not an option for many) meanwhile commodities were rewarding a producer and amazing new technology which enabled farm consolidation, and profit.

And so for the most part, farms have steadily increased in size both livestock and grain. We do see the odd farmer who is going back into livestock but if they do it is not with a few head but with serious capital.


I am a fan of having both, but many land bases are just not suited to economies of scale necessary to warrant the reinvestment. And the yoyo cattle and pork market is not a great convincer on a balance sheet.

[WiltonRanch]

No, its' not a dumb question Mallee: most of the baby boomers were raised on mixed farms.
Then in the 70s the impetus was on specialization. Many farms had a small herd, pigs even a few chickens to utilize the marginal land and labour engaged on the operation. The industry pushed to commodity production and with that came a host of the new crops: canola, peas, lentils, and more recently progressively smaller new crops like fava, northern soy, and really new: hemp and quinoa all of which provided diversity and often higher returns.

Those livestock operators who did survive the specialization trend were hit bad by BSE, and while BSE tortured the beef and bison industry at the same time, many on farm pig barns closed due to failing margins (chickens is quota so not an option for many) meanwhile commodities were rewarding a producer and amazing new technology which enabled farm consolidation, and profit.

And so for the most part, farms have steadily increased in size both livestock and grain. We do see the odd farmer who is going back into livestock but if they do it is not with a few head but with serious capital.


I am a fan of having both, but many land bases are just not suited to economies of scale necessary to warrant the reinvestment. And the yoyo cattle and pork market is not a great convincer on a balance sheet.

That pretty much sums it up. Very few mixed outfits left. To justify a crop farming scheme you need a sizeable outlay to the point that keeping 100 cows is more a bother than it's worth and keeping a large enough beef herd to make it worthwhile involves enough work you don't have time to do a decent job grain farming or near enough ground to justify it. Some areas dictate you need both like my farm but even so there's a pile more grain outfits than cows every year. Even so guys are getting older and guys starting up don't want to be tied down to cows and they seen the pain inflicted by BSE. I'll play the contrarian and keep doing what I am but I'm an exception. Even the ranch areas are seeing more grain production as technology improves. But it is all coming full circle. When guys settled the country they farmed everything. Some did okay but some needed livestock because climate dictated it with the means they had, and other factors to boot.

[GDR]

We are mixed. Grain, hay, cattle and sheep. Keeps you busy year round. Last few years have been different but usually only grain or livestock prices are high and the other low so keeps the income more steady. Cows kept lots of farms around here in business in the 90s. Most guys just don't like the physical labour and the up all night with problems of livestock. One neighbor always likes to say out loud at farming events he hopes to one day retire and just be a grain farmer. Sure pisses off the straight grain guys.

[woodland]

We are mixed. Grain, hay, cattle and sheep. Keeps you busy year round. Last few years have been different but usually only grain or livestock prices are high and the other low so keeps the income more steady. Cows kept lots of farms around here in business in the 90s. Most guys just don't like the physical labour and the up all night with problems of livestock. One neighbor always likes to say out loud at farming events he hopes to one day retire and just be a grain farmer. Sure pisses off the straight grain guys.

You sound like us minus the sheep. We have always had cows here since we got a fair bit of swamp, hills, and trees on our place. When bse hit we were 100% cows and it was quite the kick in the pants so we started adding grain acres and went to 50-50 (dollar) split. It is way easier (labour) to gross the same dollars on grain vs cows. As I'm typing this at 10 pm on a rainy night running a litre of IV fluid into a sick calf it's obvious I love my cows though sometimes not the conditions or weather they require me to work in. In grain farming you aren't out in these crummy conditions and nobody has ever phoned me to tell me that my canola smashed the fence and is running towards the highway. Lots of guys ditched cows here and never looked back. Probably half the cows there used to be 15 years ago.

[sumdumguy]

Mallee... In some parts of Western Canada the weather(winter) is pretty harsh for livestock. Not the easiest way to make a living here. Feed them long time or provide feed for them somehow since peak grazing season is short. I know Grassfarmer is way more qualified than me to answer the grazing issues. Management!

Goats for the growing ethnic population that eats them?

Some land is pretty much only suited for livestock and not crop production. But thats not saying you can't or shouldn't use arable land to raise livestock. Economics.

This farm had livestock since it began but I don't have anything now...only a blueheeler dog. It was a bit of an Old McDonald E-I-E-I-O farm until I decided I didn't want to do hogs or laying hens for personal use. Then slowly culled our way out of cattle until the last couple left in about 2013. Can't see starting again, me anyway.

My neighbour sold a breeding herd of goats - 41 of them for $50,000. is that a good price? she seemed to think so. That was three years ago and her herd is back up in numbers for another herd sale.

[woodland]

My neighbour sold a breeding herd of goats - 41 of them for $50,000. is that a good price? she seemed to think so. That was three years ago and her herd is back up in numbers for another herd sale.

Seems like awesome money alongside $2,000 bred cows. Good for them. Neighbors used to raise some as well till the "new Canadians" demanded to butcher them in their yard and when they said no they'd do on the road just past their driveway. I couldn't deal with that, especially a halal slaughter.