Van Raay buys Saskatchewan farmland

As producers, we’re always interested in who is purchasing what farmland and at what price. Here’s an interesting deal from around Conquest, just west of Outlook. In the last couple months, approximately 85 parcels of land have been purchased by Van Raay Land Inc. and Van Raay Land Inc. et al. The total is around 10,500 acres. Most of this is in the RM of Fertile Valley with a couple purchases in the RM of Milden. In Alberta, Cor Van Raay Farms Ltd. is one of the country’s largest cattle feeders. They’re headquartered at Iron Springs, about two hours south of Calgary. I haven’t heard what their plans are for this foray into Saskatchewan, but land sales are public information. This isn’t grazing land that they’ve purchased. It’s good cultivated land in a key lentil growing region of the province. The purchase price on most of the land is in the range of $900 to $1,000 an acre. The total for all the land comes to around $9.5 million. That’s a bargain compared to what most land is worth in Alberta. I’m Kevin Hursh.