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    PFRA Pastures

    Don't want to highjack the thread on bred cows, so I'm putting this subject in it's own.

    What's everyone's opinion on whether or not the Federal government should sell off the PFRA pastures? Does anyone use them? We tried for twenty years to get into one, and never got off the wait list. Now they've raised the grazing rates so high we can't afford it. Is this simply a result of the lower cattle numbers? Or was this a long term plan on the government's part to "make" them unviable so they could be sold off?

    This is from an old story on portageonline.com about our local community pasture. I think they saw the handwriting on the wall regarding PFRA pastures, so took steps to keep this land in it's current pasture state. It's on the edge of a very profitable potato growing area, and if this was ever broken up, the irrigation pivots would go so fast it would make your head spin.

    Now what remains to be seen is whether it will stick when money gets involved.

    Quote:

    A community pasture in western Manitoba will continue to benefit local cattle producers after Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation and the Municipalities of Langford and Lansdowne.

    The Langford Community Pasture is about 21 thousand acres in size, supporting around 2 thousand head of cattle belonging to 26 area producers.

    "This will preserve and protect the land that's out there, putting an everlasting picture on the environment in terms of good management," says Brandon-Souris MP Merv Tweed. "It's a beautiful area and we have solidified it with an agreement that they will continue to co-manage it into the long future."

    AAFC is responsible for more than 2 million acres of grazing land in western Canada, most of which was formerly managed under the PFRA umbrella.

    "As you and I know, when you have land and commodity prices go up, people start to look for more land. What they're saying is 'this is an area we're going to preserve.' It's a pristine area and the agreement will allow for that to continue on into the future," says Tweed.

    #2
    I found the article. Not the western producer. Bo to www.BEEF BUSINESS Nov 11 edition. Page 12.

    Comment


      #3
      Good morning. Here in SW Sk. where I live we put 30 pairs into our PFRA community pasture. We have used it for 40 years and it has been a good fit fur us , BUT.... the last few years it has not been a cheap venture either. My bill this fall was approx. $4300 for 30 pairs over a 150 day time frame. Part of me would like to see the land go up for sale , but I have quite a few greedy neighbors with deeper pockets than me who would buy it up and break most of it for farmland. I farm also, but expansion is a great idea, but not in the cards financially. So I am hoping in some ways the PFRA stays , but some of the employees that work at these pastures have hardly any work ethics, other than riding a horse and team roping on the weekends. The older generations knew how to work and the kids that they are hiring now just don't get it. Hope this helps.

      Comment


        #4
        Welcome Galaxie500.

        That works out to close to a dollar a day, give or take a few cents. It's not far off winter feed costs. Once you add trucking to it, it's even more. We found, when we checked it out that it was the little service charges that add up. So much for this and so much for that, and pretty soon it was unaffordable. I guess with better calf prices it's a little easier to justify, but back when they were worth half what they are now, it wasn't.

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          #5
          It won't effect us what they do with that land.I tried for years to get into the pfra pasture but never could,so we just kept buying more pasture land and making pasture agreements with the locals,worked out better for us in the long run.

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            #6
            I'm wondering if the rise in grazing fees indicated a change in policy to price them out of business and pave the way to justify a sale? At one time they were cheaper than renting private pasture, at least in our area.

            mmm......

            Comment


              #7
              Not something I know anything about so what would typical rates at PFRA/ Community pastures be in the last decade? I assume the charge includes supervision of the animals as well as providing bulls?

              Comment


                #8
                Had a neighbor who had a 25 head allotment at Cynthia a few years ago. After trucking and a bull debenture it worked out to about $21/month per cow calf.....which was a lot cheaper than private pasture here (east of Red Deer).
                However the cows always came home missing a calf or two.....and one year he had quite a few preg check open. He gave it up a couple of years ago after they were proposing an increase.

                Comment


                  #9
                  The monetary cost vs. the economic cost
                  varies widely with the skill/effort of the
                  pasture manager. They have historically
                  sourced some pretty good bulls.

                  Comment

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