YORKTON — One constant in agriculture through the years is that the economics of the business are subject to change.
That was the message a sold-out crowd attending the seventh Annual Heritage Dinner hosted by the Yorkton Brick Mill Heritage Society heard from speaker Kevin Hursh, a Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame inductee and former CTV agriculture commentator.
Hursh noted that through the years certain events have been sort of benchmarks to the changes; from the start of homesteading, to the drought of the 1930s, to the booms occurring post the great wars, to the LIFT program of 1971 where farmers were paid not to grow grain because of a world glut.
“So we’ve had ups, and we’ve had downs in agriculture over the years,” he told those gathered at St. Mary’s Cultural Centre last Wednesday.
At times the downs have been devastating. Hursh pointed to the 1980s when interest rates hit 20-plus per cent.
“Lots of farms did not survive,” he said.
By contrast, things of late have been generally positive in the grain sector, said Hursh, suggesting most years since 2008 “we’ve been in good years.”
That however appears to be about to change, warned Hursh.
“Right now we’re hitting a lot of speed bumps in grain,” he said.
Hursh went through the various crops; canola, wheat, peas and in all cases when average operating and fixed costs are factored in producers are facing losses on average yields.
Adding to the current price concerns are high costs for urea and phosphate fertilizers and machinery costs where Hursh said large combines can cost more than $1 million.
However, the income squeeze has not yet impacted the price of land.
Farmland prices have been increasing by gangbusters, said Hursh, adding in Saskatchewan they climbed 13 per cent last year.
In fact land has gone up in value rather steadily the past decade from six-to-20 per cent a year, said Hursh.
“What else can you invest in that could have that kind of return?” he asked.
However, Hursh reminded that “what goes up may come down.”
Hursh said there are indications that could happen as land investment companies are looking to sell while prices are high.
“And we have trade issues obviously,” he added.
The happy story in agriculture today is found in the cattle sector, said Hursh.
Hursh looked back at 2020 when it took roughly 400, 550-pound calves to generate $500K in sales.
This year, with 550 pound calves bring roughly $6 per pound, 150 calves generate $500K.
“It’s really their (the cow/calf sector) time to shine,” said Hursh.
Locally, Hursh said Yorkton has essentially become “the canola capital of the world,” with two plants here. “. . . That is absolutely amazing.
“They’re here, and they’ve expanded, and they’re doing very, very well,” he said.
