Some Saskatchewan farmers who lease land from the provincial government are anxious about the future of their rental agreements.
But the minister responsible for a review of the government’s policy on crown land says he can’t do anything to relieve their anxiety about the government’s plans.
“I absolutely need to leave this an open question,” said Clay Serby, minister of rural revitalization.
“It would be totally inappropriate for me as minister to make any kind of supposition in advance of recommendations being made as to what the tenure will look like in the future.”
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Those recommendations will come from the Action Committee on the Rural Economy, the provincially appointed group that is now reviewing crown land issues.
The review has some tenants wondering if major changes might be in store in areas like security of tenure, rental rates, purchase options and rules on intergenerational transfer of leases.
“We’d like some answers as to what the government’s plans are,” said Dan Danielson of the Saskatchewan Crown Land Tenants Association.
A questionnaire distributed by ACRE this summer asked respondents for their opinions on issues like selling crown land, the length of leases and rental formulas.
“All of those kinds of things make you wonder if something is in the wind,” said Danielson.
He said the current crown land management policy has served farmers and the agricultural economy well.
The terms and conditions of existing leases should be honoured, he said, and no changes should be made without the approval of tenants.
Danielson also wants the committee and the government to make a greater effort to consult directly with crown land tenants to ensure that the views of those directly affected are heard.
“If the debate around this is expanded to the farmers’ kitchen tables, that will be helpful,” he said.
While Serby would provide no guarantees to the tenants, he said he understood their anxiety and emphasized that the government hasn’t given ACRE any directions requiring it to recommend changes.
“There is no agenda driving this that says crown lease policies need a complete revamp, because by and large it would be my view that it has worked relatively well,” he said.
Nevertheless, questions do arise whether the government should continue to be a proprietor of crown land for agricultural use and whether there are other uses that would provide more economic benefit such as tourism, forestation or oil and gas exploration.
ACRE’s role is to identify for the government ways to revitalize and diversify the rural economy, and if that means making changes to crown land policy, so be it, said Serby.
Red Williams, a professor of agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan and co-chair of the ACRE subcommittee studying crown lands, said the subcommittee has heard from about a dozen groups, but added it’s too early to speculate what it will report to the full ACRE committee, or what might eventually be recommended to government.
However, he did offer reassurance to farmers who lease land from the province.
“I don’t see anything that is going to rock the boat,” said Williams. “It’s more in the detail than the overall policy.”
Farmers leasing cropland from the provincial government date their tenure back to the provincial Land Bank, under which the province bought some 1.3 million acres of cultivated land between 1972 and 1982, when the Progressive Conservative government of Grant Devine ended the program.
At that time, there were 2,650 tenants with leases that ran until they turned 65 or in some cases beyond. The leases could be transferred to the next generation and could also travel with the sale of a farm. Rents were based on a formula that roughly replicated a traditional one-third/two-thirds crop share arrangement.
Danielson said he doesn’t know how many tenants remain. Officials with the provincial lands branch could not be reached.
The crown lands tenants association is an informal group with no membership list. Danielson led a delegation of five tenants to a meeting with the ACRE subcommittee in Saskatoon Aug. 13.
Danielson said the tenants are concerned that as the provincial government looks for ways to increase revenue and reduce deficits, it might consider raising rental rates.
He said the tenants aren’t opposed to changes, as long as five principles are maintained: long-term security of tenure; a fair and equitable productive rental formula; an option to purchase; an intergenerational transfer option and terms that mimic as much as possible private ownership.
