A Million Acre Farm

Just about everything . . .

The trick will be coming up with the "-gate" word to describe the inevitable failure and quagmire of corruption.

I believe "collective" is the correct word here.

This is being done without public money, bringing jobs to reserves with huge unemployment numbers.
Where is the downside? If it fails, big deal. It didn't cost me anything, the reserve is no worse off than it was before.

If it succeeds, I'm not paying out that many more welfare cheques. We should be cheering for this.

On the bright side, at least it isn't a government job. They don't have the bottomless iron rice bowl of tax dollars to pull on if they screw it up.

There's tremendous opportunity in partnering with first nations," Sprott Resource CEO Kevin Bambrough said.

"I can't believe the situation has gone on as long as it has, that no one has taken advantage of the opportunity."

I'm beginning to believe that there is an apropos cliche for every little instance in life. I suspect CEO Bambrough is about to familiarize himself with the ubiquitous one that goes - if something appears too good to be true, it most likely is. And you always pay a price to find out why.

There's no government money, yet. Just wait.
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http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/williamslaketribune/news/41135994.html

If there are animals involved, one hopes that any education includes more than what animals need to be fed.

They have to actually *be* fed! Every day, all year round.

The CWB should love it. However with the buying power of such a large corporation, smaller farmers (that's almost all of us) will be forced to pay more than our fair share for fertilizer, fuel, machinery and parts, etc. I suspect they will get rail advantages as well.

[Deleted. Smarten up. - ED]

Any word on exactly what it is they plan to grow? Maybe a "farming' operation like the one out on the Pasqua First nation? A million acres of dope sounds about right to keep most of TO flying along in their stupor...

I agree with Adune. This is a brilliant idea and I hope it works out.

Sounds great on paper....reserve culture gets a rocket sled into productive self reliance and self actuated income, the consumer gets more natural foods (although I doubt "sustainability" has much to do with whole earth organic foods) and Bay street makes a profit to re invest in Canada...sounds good eh?

All except this part"

"Run out of Toronto."

That's the crack of doom to any profit potential of a free market enterprise. With head office in Canada's gulag, the enterprise's profitability will be savaged by the established kleptocratic culture there.

Within the hour the rapacious parasites in Ontarslobovia's regulatory revenues food chain will be scheming how to suck the life blood from the transient investment capital and how to tax/regulate/licence the enterprise's output coming back into the Ontarslobovia markets...of course the Province's political kick-back networks will have their bag men out collecting thick brown envelopes to buy the needed political influence and regulatory absolution needed to escape regulatory profit loss and to have the public underwrite the syndicate's future insolvency.

Move head office west.

Farmings easy, a piece of cake, a walk in the park, just tell me one thing that can go wrong. What can come up that an investment banker from Toronto partnering up with Sask. natives can't handle? It's a mix that is unstoppable, stand back and watch the magic...cough..cough...

The only thing they've missed in that business model are hog barns run out of Regina...

This looks like a good idea. What remains to be seen is, when things start turning sour which is not at all unexpected, who are they going to call when they run deficit and need more money.
The answer is obvious and those who think otherwise are nor being realistic.
Good luck.

"I agree with Adune. This is a brilliant idea and I hope it works out."

Could they not have financed it with the $4 billion in Res school payouts or the $10 billion they get from the feds every year?

It's completely unsustainable for much the same reason Mugabe's land reforms were and a waste of $27 million that could be better directed to people who deserve it and aren't already milking the taxpayer. No need to limit it to Natives, plenty of people in this country would be happy to farm that land or lease it, which would be more efficient and productive.

"The project is expected to provide 250 jobs for native people across the Prairies."

A bargain at $110,000 per job, in the lowest unemployment region in Canada where employers are paying top dollar for joe jobs.

It would have been better for the environment and the economy had they taken that $27 million to an incinerator and burned it.

"It didn't cost me anything"

Sprott gets a tax writeoff of over $10 million for that donation, that's how much it cost you and I in lost revenue, not to mention the lost revenue from booting the productive white farmers from the land and replacing them with a primarily hunter gatherer people with little history of agriculture. This is Mugabe-ism, race based food production. Maybe now the rural people who have little sympathy for us city workers who are forced to work in race quota environments will understand what we are on about.

What a surprise, Paul Martin's got some Indian money he needs to spread around.

"CAPE Fund will not make investments in start-ups, unless they are backed by a strong and credible operating partner or that, at the very least, there is complete depth and experience in the management of the investee company."
The Fund will partner in businesses by providing equity and quasi equity investment in varying amounts in the range of $1,000,000 to $7,500,000 (with most investments expected to be in the $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 range). These investments may be "one time" or "staged" depending on the growth and business requirements of the Fund's investee companies.

I was born in this country. Where's MY farm?!?

Yep, great in theory but in practice...well, I wish them good luck. The history of native controlled business and education ventures in SK has not been a resounding success. As a taxpayers, I hope this business is the exception to the rule.

In the end, after several years of failure, I predict the Hutterites will be contracted to do the farming using "unsustainable" farming practices.

When it comes to Grain Farming on the Canadian prairies, Timeliness is key. It's all important. It determines success or failure.

Now tell me - which operation is likely to get the seeding done promptly or the harvest in before winter ??

a) An owner operator Farmer
b) A Toronto based skyscraper operation

When the TO money men find out the realities of farming as a business they might then be able to use their political influence to do something about the CWB. Like maybe at least a dual market. The drop in production per acre on a farm of that magnitude might just lessen overall output enough to raise prices a bit for the rest of us. I give it maybe 5 years. Then comes the government bailout.

wow $27 M in capital!!!
might just pay the fuel bill

This must be some sort of income trust it's obvious there hasn't been any due diligence.

Sprott Resources Corporation might better invest in a world class clinic providing independent private MRI Services to compete with the current State run Canada health Monopoly.
Place THE CLINIC on First nations soil, free of government intervention, it would be a real money maker.
Forget about a million acre farm, ( Canadian taxpayers will be bailing that operation out in five years anyway) give up illegal cheap cigarette manufacturing on your reserves, do something worthwhile for a change.
Gain respect for a truly vital service to humanity, while gaining respect and making money and self sufficiency in the process.

Operate with friendly highly trained professional staff, reports provided in 2-3 working days and an image CD to take home for your personal health record.

Forget the farm Sprott!
Go tech-medical!

Yeah Tim, I noticed that too. $27 bucks an acre... who ever heard of such money being invested in farming... lol

As Kate's post suggests - milking any forthcoming Carbon Credit Scheme may be key.

And tonight, on The National - Peter: It has been in operation for several years now, but Canada's largest farm has hit tough times.

Keith, do you think the Government should save The Farm ?

Absolutely !! Peter, this is a 'back to the land' operation that was also in it to save us from runaway global warming.

How so Kieth ?

Well, the gov't has been slow to implement life saving carbon credits legislation and this successful, er broke farm, cannot survive without them. So cough up listeners.

Now can we get rid of the Wheat Board?

How much of this Reserve land is currently being farmed I wonder ?

I smell a scam and disaster in the making.

What's the Cree word for Boondoggle ?

Hope it works. Can see a few reasons why it might not.

If it doesn't then perhaps the "gate" word could be "Farmgate".

You know the old saying about how the farmer ended up with a farm worth a million dollars . . . they started with a farm worth ten million dollars.

Good luck on this investment. I'm sure with enough taxpayer assistance that it might even break even.

Seeming most of this land is already being leased and farmed by someone else, what are those farmers going to do for land (or income)?

Shades of the amateur night taking place in the US government.

Blend big city corporate mythology with band politics?

Then there is the basic problem----most successful farmer work 8 hour days---one before lunch and one after.....thats why farming with employees doesn't work well....unless the employee has a big stake.

Overall in that much of this land is currently farmed....this is a good way to remove about a million acres from production........

From G&M article:

"They [Indians] weren't permitted to use labour-saving devices and were restricted from selling their grain on the open market, forcing many out of farming"

Wow, shades of CWB and anti-AGW policies, and in a single sentence. Funny that.

a fool and his money are soon parted.

Run out of Toronto? It occurs to me that maybe, they already have a way out from under the wheat board. Maybe everything they grow counts as Ontario grain? Maybe a judge rules that the CWB was never intended to cover native farmers.

I suspect a wheat board avoiding deal is already in place.

Seems to me they are going to farm carbon.

On the bright side, at least it isn't a government job. They don't have the bottomless iron rice bowl of tax dollars to pull on if they screw it up.

Uh, yeah, phantom, they will have, just like any other farm operation, I would assume.

So zero tillage farming is good with the greens now? That's convenient for Monsanto,
now they are on the forefront of tackling climate change.

Intersting,accident or by design...

Right now a greens head is expoding.

this story plays well in the cities, and to the uninformed..
a signed lease of rental agreement means nothing in regards to reserve land..

this will never work as an active farm.. it will only be a shill game to get Gov't money.

Most reservations are cesspools in Canada. One of the root problems is that everything is provided, and people don't work for a living. There's an appalling lack of business, and options to make an honest living.

The most successful reserves in Canada are on ones where they have the citizens working, and earning money.

I applaud any attempt to create jobs in First Nations communities that's NOT being provided by the government.

As much fun as it is to mock eastern ineptitude when it comes to the prairies, we NEED this kind of business (and preferably lots of small business) coming into our reservations.

Reservations are ALREADY a sinkhole for public funds. The more private money going into reservations to produce income the better.

Sure, it may fail. But it's private investment failing if that's the case, and not government. If it's successful, it will lead to more investment in our reserves. Canada desperately needs this.

Is this the definition of 'starting at the top and working your way down'?

a million acre greenhouse growing mara wana. ok.

Sure, it may fail.

May fail?

Soon coming to a grocery store near you--Buffalo steaks at $40 a pound.

One farm
One world

What could go wrong?
Frost, drought, grasshoppers, flooding rains,HAIL!! (the big white combine) to name just a few things that happen on a good year.

Run by someone from Toronto.
They probably think they can grow organic cotton on the praires due to global warming.

A million acre farm will never work.
Not in this country where we have so many fun seasons.

Do all the lease holders... get to vote on keeping the wheat boards monopoly? any opinions out there that?

Remember that thing that farmers say?

I'm gonna keep farming till the money's all gone.

to big to fail?

Marc:

Do all the lease holders... get to vote on keeping the wheat boards monopoly? any opinions out there that?

You may want to check to see if grain grown on reserve land is subject to the Canadian Wheat Board Act.

Which came first? The CWB Act or the Native Treaties.

This one will be interesting to watch.