CONSUL, Sask. – Corporate farms are the way of the future, whether we like it or not, says Clay Wagner.
Wagner, who farms with his parents and older brother in the southwestern corner of Saskatchewan, said this won’t be difficult for farmers to deal with because they can be employed by the corporations.
However, it will be the downfall of the land.
“There is no corporation that will put the husbandry of the land over profits,” he said.
Wagner said he believes more corporate farms will emerge because of basic economics. Farmers can’t make a living earning $15,000 a year off $1 million in assets while expenses are skyrocketing, he said.
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“It’s just not enough. It takes two part-time jobs just to stay alive.”
Wagner works at as many off-farm jobs as he can. He welds, distributes liquid feed and holds many other temporary or part-time jobs.
His father drives a school bus route and his brother also works off the farm at various jobs.
The Wagners seed 1,000 acres to wheat, triticale and leg-umes. They run 90 commercial cattle and 40 purebred Simmentals on their own land, lease land and pasture, and they raise Quarter horses.
They have been steadily expanding both their cattle herds and their land base, and are moving towards reduced tillage, Wagner said.
In an attempt to cut expenses, the family plan to seed clover underneath triticale, using the triticale for feed this year and cutting the clover for feed next year.
Wagner cited economic reasons when he said he is not optimistic about the future of farming. But even though he is employable off the farm, the lifestyle keeps him right where he is.
“I’m my own person,” he said. “I’m free of constraints on my time.”
