Agriculture Canada’s farm income statistics say Alberta farmer Glen Nicholson should be doing well. He’s not.
Those same projections says Saskatchewan farmer Kevin Miller should be in trouble. He’s not.
Nicholson and Miller are two round pegs that don’t fit into the department’s square farm income forecast, two individual cases that defy the numbers and the broad picture.
The latest October forecast suggests farmers in Alberta are doing well and those in Saskatchewan are suffering.
Meet two of the exceptions to the rule, a struggling Alberta cattle producer and a prospering Saskatchewan grain farmer.
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Nicholson is a Bonnyville, Alta., cattle producer unable to take full advantage of high cattle prices this year because a succession of droughts has decimated pasture and feed crops in the area. Last year, he had to use three quarters of his 700-acre feed barley crop for silage because there was no hay. Lower feed costs recouped just part of the $60,000 he normally would have received for the barley.
He also had to ship 105 of his 250 cows from a local community pasture to a private pasture 240 kilometres south. It cost him $9,000 plus $20,000 for straw.
“That’s the first time we ever went anywhere for straw. We usually bale our own straw.”
It’s the worst year Nicholson can remember. Good cattle prices may save him, but he has yet to sell any of his calves.
“The scary one is next year,” he said. “If it really dries out next year, we’ll be selling our cow herd, I guess. Everything has been eaten right to the ground and we have no hay left. We’re right to the end of things here.”
About 450 km southeast near Saskatoon, a different story emerges on Miller’s farm. While most grain and oilseed farmers in Saskatchewan are suffering, he had “a very good year” in 1999.
Last spring, he seeded 1,600 acres of AC Barrie spring wheat and 260 acres of oats. Another 700 acres were left to summerfallow to help bring down his input bill.
He got 50 bushels per acre or better on the wheat and 80 to 100 bu. per acre on the oats. And the entire wheat crop went No. 1 with protein levels of 13.5 percent and up.
“I grossed $200 per acre. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Miller said he fared better than he has in the last two or three years even with low wheat prices. Last year, he got about $1 a bushel more for his wheat but the crop only yielded 30 bu. per acre.
Yields this year were boosted by record rainfall and he avoided ergot problems by pre-working his land.
With sales incomplete, Miller doesn’t know his total financial picture for the year but grain sales will pay the bills, no matter what the Jan. 14 Agriculture Canada income projection forecasts for Saskatchewan.
