SASKATOON – On Oct. 7, the crop that Drew McBain seeded last spring was harvested.
Unfortunately for McBain, he wasn’t the one harvesting it.
The 44-year-old farmer was prevented by a court injunction from setting foot on the three quarter-sections of land near Kindersley, Sask. he has farmed for more than 20 years.
Instead, the wheat and mustard were taken off by a new tenant on the land which McBain had once rented from Farm Credit Corporation.
It was the latest step in a bitter dispute between McBain and FCC that started as a disagreement over rental rates and will almost certainly be resolved by a judge’s verdict.
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McBain has sued the corporation, asking the court to bar the agency from selling the land, to restore his lease and to pay him damages, including the proceeds from the 1996 crop.
In an interview, McBain said while he has spent more in legal fees than he would have had to pay under the higher rental rate demanded by FCC, he has no regrets about getting involved in what is turning out to be a long court battle.
“They went and put my land up for sale and accepted offers on it,” he said. “I had to do something.”
Don Jackson, general manager of FCC’s land division was reluctant to discuss the details of the case because it’s before the courts.
However, he said the agency followed all the usual procedures and did nothing improper when it allowed the new tenant to harvest the crop that McBain had seeded.
“It’s not his land. The land belongs to FCC, pure and simple,” said Jackson. “He does not have a lease and he does not own the land, and he went and seeded it.”
He said the corporation will reimburse McBain for the costs of putting in the crop, but won’t do so until directed to by the court.
The next step in McBain’s lawsuit, which was filed in February, will be a pre-trial conference with a judge, aimed at achieving an out-of-court settlement.
Jackson wouldn’t comment on the prospects of settling the case before it goes to trial. McBain said he would only agree to a deal that would re-instate his previous lease with damages, or one that would allow him to buy at least the home half-section.
Routine beginning
The dispute had its genesis in 1990, when FCC took ownership of McBain’s land as part of a debt settlement plan. McBain continued to rent the land from FCC.
The two sides couldn’t agree on rental rates for 1996 and in the fall of 1995 ended up in front of a review board. The board upheld the rates proposed by FCC and gave McBain 15 days to pay or lose the lease.
He disputed some of the information about local rental rates presented to the review board by FCC and asked the board to reconsider, which it declined to do.
On Feb. 1, 1996, FCC advertised the land for sale and received two offers of purchase, which are awaiting the outcome of the court case.
McBain, who has been doing some custom combining on land owned by his mother, said he feels the corporation has been persecuting him.
“What it boiled down to in my mind is they were well-secured and they just didn’t want to deal with my situation until my security was gone and they could take the whole works.”
Jackson denied any such intent, saying the case has been handled in a routine manner.
“We never want to get into a situation where the farmer loses access to the land he’s been farming,” he said. “But if the farmer won’t abide by the terms and conditions of the lease … the court has no choice but to direct us to sell the property and that’s what we’ve attempted to do.”
