The Saskatchewan government has extended the discount available to Crown land lessees who want to purchase their lease land.
The 10 percent purchase price discount in place since the program began a year ago was supposed to end Dec. 31. Instead, it will continue until Dec. 31, 2010.
Agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud said the extension will allow all lessees the chance to buy land under the full discount.
The discount will drop to eight percent in 2011, then six, four and two percent in 2014.
The province has said as many as 1.6 million acres could be sold by the time the program ends.
So far, 110,000 acres have been sold.
Both the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities and the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association welcomed the new, saying the late harvest and financial difficulty in the livestock sector have prevented some from taking advantage of the program.
“We thank the government for recognizing the financial challenges facing the livestock industry and giving producers additional time to participate in the program,” said SSGA president Calvin Knoss.
The discount will also now take effect as soon as a lessee applies for purchase, not the date of sale. This means that transactions that conclude in a different calendar year will still qualify for a larger discount.
