[Combine Pilot]

Sask government wants to change the rules on who can own land in sask, what do you think, will it help or hinder. i was surprised that a some big players in the US want to get in up here.

http://www.producer.com/daily/saska...ail&utm_term=0_a5b062b4c9-2eed7f7b08-87668341

 

[bjtjjl]

I hope the laws get changed. I personally don't want out of country investors owning large amounts of land. If that company wins the court case, our government better act quick.
I do realize that if you are at retirement age the more buyers the better, but I think there is enough money locally within all of our communities to pay top dollar for land if that's where the market is.

 

[offroadnt]

So that's what's going on. I was wondering why there are investment funds poking around here and not buying land in Saskatchewan. Management has been been toying with the idea of selling here and buying dryland in Saskatchewan.

 

[Trace1]

In my opinion this is going to be the beginning of the end for farmers smaller to mid range! Chinese have a lot of ownership in grain companies and if they are allowed to start buying land they will be in control of those grain companies to get what they need for themselves! Big cooperate farms to grow there crops and supply there needs. Maybe I haven't had enough coffee this am!

 

[sinapisalba]

The funniest was around Conquest Sk about 10 years ago, when a bunch of folks sold their land to a well known Alberta feedlot owner. The next winter Cat crawlers were shipped in and 100 miles of quite iconic shelter-belts were removed. The residents, and hypocritically the former owners were outraged. Well, what did they expect?
http://www.producer.com/2010/10/shelter-belt-clearing-stirs-controversy/

 

[blue collar]

I remember reading about those tree rows in the Western Producer. The new owner had said if these historic tree rows were so important to the neighbours he would gladly replant every mile of trees he took out....on their land. I would think the complaints ended in a hurry. People will move in and out of areas forever, you can't stop them. Like one guy said above, there should be just as much money locally to pay going rate for land and keep foreign ownership out.

 

[kenmb]

I must be missing something because the article doesn't tell me anything about what may change. As I understand it, a group of Canadian investors from say Quebec can buy all the farmland they can get their hands on and never set foot in this province. This is a change from about six years ago when you had to be a Saskatchewan resident to own land prior to the change. Correct me if I am wrong. So the concern being raised in the article is that at some point the scope of ownership may be opened up to outside of Canada. I don't like out of country ownership but then I am not keen about ownership by entities that will never be part of the local economy as the law is now.

 

[whatswrong]

When did it change for large foreign ownership (non resident ) to be OK ,I have always thought it was tightly regulated .Does it hinge around actually operating it vs just owning it and renting it out .
The latest issue involves the CPP owning +/- 700 quarters .

 

[saskfarmboy]

As long as farmers pay the rental rates to these out fits it will not stop

 

[dieseldog]

Ok if you don't want us up there, then no more vacations houses in AZ for you! Fair deal?

 

[bjtjjl]

Ok if you don't want us up there, then no more vacations houses in AZ for you! Fair deal?

Well played.

 

[mellowyellow]

Ok if you don't want us up there, then no more vacations houses in AZ for you! Fair deal?

Diesel dog 7 states in the union have laws restricting ownership of farmland from out of state and country, your state of northdakota being one of them, so you have nothing to say about sask protecting this important resource.

Prior to 2003 you had to be a sask resident to own anything greater than 320ac in the province and a foreign entity limited to 10ac. Ndp govt changed rules after this date to allow any canadian to own as much as they liked and foreign ownership remained the same. In the last few years with the global land grab on, the sask govt has been challenged by investment funds and so called canadian citizens with foreign passports buying up large acreages and doing end runs around our laws.

Thankfully with letter writing campaigns by myself, other sask farmers and residents to politicians this bullshit will come to a crashing halt for all the parasites feeding off of farm families.

Frequently people don't understand what they had till it's gone.

 

[kenmb]

That was how I remember it also mellow yellow though doesn't seem like 12 years now. There was always contention as to what it took to be a Sask resident but once it was opened up to Canadian resident then it got real interesting as to who could buy what.

For you yanks, someone has by buy your Arizona houses since Americans aren't! And actually that is what the big lobby was about to make land ownership less restrictive so as to find someone willing to buy - just like US housing. In the early 80s we bought the north half of a section for $140,000, in 2005 we bought the south half for $69,000 and the owner was just happy to be able to sell. Not much land selling for a number of years. Now a few miles away the asking price is $180,000 for a quarter but it has been up for sale since fall. So that change in ownership laws is a double whammy to land prices, because now there are farmers and investors competing to buy land when 10 years ago there was no one to buy.

 

[dieseldog]

??

Diesel dog 7 states in the union have laws restricting ownership of farmland from out of state and country, your state of northdakota being one of them, so you have nothing to say about sask protecting this important resource.

Prior to 2003 you had to be a sask resident to own anything greater than 320ac in the province and a foreign entity limited to 10ac. Ndp govt changed rules after this date to allow any canadian to own as much as they liked and foreign ownership remained the same. In the last few years with the global land grab on, the sask govt has been challenged by investment funds and so called canadian citizens with foreign passports buying up large acreages and doing end runs around our laws.

Thankfully with letter writing campaigns by myself, other sask farmers and residents to politicians this bullshit will come to a crashing halt for all the parasites feeding off of farm families.

Frequently people don't understand what they had till it's gone.

Corporations cant own land in ND. I believe it has no effect on an individual from out of state owning land. I know of numerous land pieces owned by out of state interests that own it just for hunting land.

And also I had a little sarcasm in my first post.

 

[farmin cowboy]

Just wondering what American would want to own land in Saskatchewan. We had a fair bit of land in our area that was owned by Americans and they sold it because it was no where near as profitable farming Canadian land as there land that was twelve miles south.

 

[dieseldog]

We farm on the border so it wouldn't be but a 10 foot jump. There is some pretty nice land just north of us in the Torquay area that would be nice for our mix of crops. That is when the water isn't sitting all over it.

 

[Oliver 88]

We farm on the border so it wouldn't be but a 10 foot jump. There is some pretty nice land just north of us in the Torquay area that would be nice for our mix of crops. That is when the water isn't sitting all over it.

The government and farmers aren't worried about the Montana/ND farmer that is on the border and wants to expand. (Although a change in law might restrict this from happening)

The main worry is the Chinese investors and other investment/pension funds buying to rent back the land to the actual farmers.
The straw that broke the camels back was the Canadian Pension Plan buying over 100,000 acres last year.

 

[Oliver 88]

Thankfully with letter writing campaigns by myself, other sask farmers and residents to politicians this bullshit will come to a crashing halt for all the parasites feeding off of farm families.

Nice work for being involved in the letter writing campaigns.

I hope this style of land investors are eliminated.

 

[farmin cowboy]

We farm on the border so it wouldn't be but a 10 foot jump. There is some pretty nice land just north of us in the Torquay area that would be nice for our mix of crops. That is when the water isn't sitting all over it.

I can understand that but the US "Programs" don't follow to land farmed in Canada and that is why the American farms sold out up here and went south to find more land to farm. I farm on the north side looking south wishing I could go there and farm. Kinda of the grass is always greener on the other side. Torquay is alright but the water problem has became an issue.

 

[gumbomb]

Live in Manitoba and right or wrong I own aprox. 5 acres of land in Sask via a investment fund. No idea where, I suppose a few square feet in many individual parcels. Only 8k worth, may not sound like much but multiply that over 2 million potential Canadian investors looking to diversify there RRSP holdings and it ads up. Since I got tax receipt and it's only a small portion of my retirement portfolio, I don't expect a high return. Allows me to diversify from the stock market. At least land is a physical asset if paper investments go bust. Ethically I'm torn if I should invest any more, I'm leaning towards agreeing that only Sask residents should be allowed to purchase land. For sure not foreign ownership.