Saskatchewan continues to sell agricultural crown land it no longer wants to own.
Agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud told a legislative committee April 21 that nearly 19,000 acres have been sold. Of that amount, about 11,600 acres are cultivated and the remainder is grazing land.
Agriculture critic Pat Atkinson asked if sales were slow, considering the province intends to sell about 1.6 million acres over the next five years.
Bjornerud and his officials noted inquiries have been made on more than two million acres of land since the sale was announced in November.
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Not all crown land can be sold because it is protected by environmental designations or retained for gravel reserves or other reasons.
“Right now I would say that probably the interest is even higher than I would have thought it was,” Bjornerud told the committee.
The government intends to sell as much as possible of its estimated 600,000 acres of cultivated land, most of which was acquired under the land bank program in the 1970s.
When designing the sale program, the agriculture ministry estimated sale prices at $350 per cultivated acre and $140 per grazing acre. It could result in gross revenue of $336 million.
Officials could not provide the actual sale prices of the land sold.
Ministry staff evaluates the land to determine a price but a purchaser can request an independent appraisal, the cost of which is deducted if a sale goes ahead.
Eighteen accredited appraisers are available to do that work.
