THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2012
VOL. 90 | NO. 39 | $3.75
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SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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STORMING THE CASTLE
A GROWING INDUSTRY | TRENDS
Mega-farms cause unease
Grain farmers feel hog barn strife
This is the second in a series of stories exploring the trend toward megafarms and what it means to agriculture | By Karen Briere, Regina bureau
Hog company problems | Farmers face losses for unpaid feed deliveries
The transition of land ownership underway on the Prairies is unsettling to some. Investor-owned tracts and family operations as big as 45,000 acres are not what people are used to calling farms. But the new agricultural model is undeniably gaining ground, and there are still more questions than answers about how the mega-farm will change food production and rural life. Roger Epp, political science professor at the University of Alberta, said the notion that farms since the homestead era were small, and should be, is wrong. Large ranches were widely accepted in the early days of agriculture, and in the early 20th century there were huge grain farms in both the Canadian and American west, including at least one in Montana that in 1910 comprised one million acres.
BY ED WHITE WINNIPEG BUREAU
Puratone stumbled into bankruptcy protection, owing Kyle Foster $33,000 to $35,000 for high-value feed wheat he had recently delivered. He’s not alone. Other farmers near Arborg, Man., are in a similar situation, as probably are those who farm near other Puratone, Big Sky and independent hog barns across the Prairies as the industry grapples with the crippling impact of massive losses. “Some guys are really upset,” said Foster. “Some are understanding, but still want their money.” Foster is one of the understanding farmers, and there is little anger when he talks about Puratone, which is still operating and paying cash for grain deliveries. “Puratone’s a big part of the agriculture industry up here and it’s not good for anyone to see them go down,” he said. “It’s unfortunate right across the board, whether you’re a grain producer or you work at the (Puratone) feed mill or you run a business in town. There are a lot of jobs involved here.” While the losses hitting the hog industry most directly affect hog farmers, they also affect farmers who grow grain and sell it to feed barns, or to grain companies that supply hog barns. Foster said a number of grain farmers in his area are owed money by Puratone. SEE GRAIN FARMERS OWED, PAGE 2
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SEE MEGA-FARMS, PAGE 3
SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4
Children swarm the straw bale maze on the Meandher Creek Pumpkin Patch near Oak Lake, Man. The farm was one of many that took part in Manitoba Open Farm Day, in which more than 50 farms opened their gates to the public Sept. 16. FOR MORE PHOTOS, SEE PAGE 76. | SANDY BLACK PHOTO
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HOG INDUSTRY | BANKRUPTCY
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