Rex and Donna Davis came up empty handed after spending two years looking for good, affordable ranchland in Alberta.
They owned three sections of land west of Nanton, and were hoping to expand.
Failing to find what they wanted in Alberta, they turned their attention to Saskatchewan.
Last fall, they bought land near Frontier, Sask., and made it their new home.
“We bought almost three times as much land and we have money left over,” said Donna.
“We looked in Alberta first but there just was nothing suitable.”
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The prices of quarter sections in Alberta range from $120,000 to more than $240,000, she said.
A quarter section near Frontier can be bought for $25,000.
The land that the Davises bought includes a big house and a large barn.
Half of the eight sections is cropland and half is native grass. They plan to seed down the cropland for grazing.
Some Saskatchewan realtors said their province is gaining more attention from Alberta ranchers who want to expand and are willing to move elsewhere to do it.
“There’s quite a bit of interest,” said Bert Mennie, a sales agent with Hallmark Realty in Saskatoon.
“That’s where a good percentage of the buyers are coming from.”
Many of the inquiries come from ranchers looking for hay and pastureland, Mennie said. There are also buyers from Alberta wanting a hobby farm or acreage.
“They’ll buy anywhere,” said Mennie.
“I get phone calls enquiring about land all over the province.”
Del Rue of Royal LePage in Saskatoon said he handled at least a dozen sales last year where Albertans bought farms and acreages in Saskatchewan.
He expects to have just as much business from Alberta this year.
Realtors who were interviewed said the price of land in rural Saskatchewan is fanning the interest.
“They can buy just as good or better farmland for half the price,” said Lyle Van Camp, a realtor at Melfort, Sask.
“The interest from Alberta has definitely tripled here in the last year.”
Saskatchewan Agriculture issued a news release this month promoting the province as the land of opportunity.
The department drew attention to farmers from Alberta and Great Britain buying land in Saskatchewan.
While land in Saskatchewan may be cheaper, buyers from Alberta are particular about what they buy, said Jim Donovan, a Saskatchewan Agriculture extension agrologist.
Prospective buyers study soil and climate maps and compare costs, Donovan said.
“And they find that the land has greater productive capacity than where they’re coming from – mostly the shortgrass prairie of western Alberta – because we have more rainfall,” he said in the news release.
“They’re moving here because the land is cheaper than it is near larger centres of Alberta … and because the ability to produce grass here is greater.”
