A recent article discussing difficulties of getting into the farming business explained that the cost of a new tractor is now around $1 million.
Farmland sells from $1,000 an acre to over $3,000 depending on the soil and productivity. I remember when farmland sold for $10 an acre. What a change!
The article got me recalling a 1950’s incident when I was 13. The Christensens, living two miles down the road were retiring and selling the farm.
I was sad. When I walked home from school I often stopped into their place— only one-half mile from the school. Mrs. Christensen always had a cookie and glass of milk or hot chocolate for me and a nice visit.
If the weather turned bad she would use the fence line phone to let my folks know I was okay or needed a ride home for two miles.
When I heard they were selling I encouraged my father and uncle to buy the two section (1,280 acres) farm. Asking price was $12,000. They wouldn’t consider buying. They said the price was too high.
The land sold to neighbours from 15 miles away for the asking price of just over $9 an acre.
The White Brothers farmed it for over 40 years, selling the farm for $3 million. Granted their sale included a slew of oil wells that brought in a lot of cash revenue.
The woman who bought the farm with money from a divorce settlement has never lived there, never seeded a crop, taking years before renting the place.
All she wanted was the surface rights cash from the oil wells to keep her lifestyle intact.
No wonder starting to farm from scratch is so difficult.
The farmer can’t trust just anybody to operate that $1 million tractor or the $600,000 combine.
Back then, there was little need for skills to work on the farm.
In our district, as in many districts, one fellow did a lot of the temporary farm jobs that came up when someone had to leave for a while or was sick.
Nick Bullabrook was hired to do chores and look after the place.
Nick lived on a farm we owned three miles away. He located there to help the former-owner John Salem. When John sold to us, Nick stayed in his shack.
Nick could barely read and didn’t drive a gas-powered vehicle. He went everywhere with his buggy and horse.
For decades, this portly old bachelor lived in his shack, doing farm chores to supplement his meagre pension.
In the 1970s, Nick decided to move the shack into town and join the dozen permanent residents. It was closer to the post office and the general store.
When Nick died, his shack and shed were sold at auction. A local farmer paid less than $200, wanting the coal.
He got a real bargain, finding a tobacco can in the coal bin with over $4,000 inside.
Yep, those were the good old days.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
