Editor, The News:
Re: Much Pitt Meadows farmland left fallow (The News, Feb. 6),
I am getting sick and tired of the opinions of these so-called experts on farmland, that it is going up in price because of speculators.
What a bunch of crap.
I live on farmland, which I bought 27 years ago, when prices were lower.
I got sick and tired living in high-density boxes and putting up with sloppy and noisy neighbours.
I took a chance and moved out into the boonies because I wanted peace and quiet.
Why didn’t some of these whiners buy farmland?
Speculation?
I have lived on my property for 27 years and use some of the land to grow hedging cedars.
Farmland is worth about $100,000 per acre (more than 43,000 square feet).
How about building lots, piddly 50x100, 120-foot lots, what are they worth – $250,000 to $ 300,000 in the Maple Ridge area and up to and $1 million in the Vancouver area.
Who are the speculators?
I don’t hear any property owners complain about their houses having gone into the stratosphere.
We are still living in a democracy.
If governments want to protect farmland, they should buy it all up at current market prices, then we can see how capable they are of managing things.
They can’t even manage their low-income housing projects.
The Russians under, the communist regime, tried it and couldn’t run their farms.
I wonder how many of these experts have ever worked on agricultural land and sweated their rear ends off?
I wonder what all these folks expect to grow on ALR land?
We have got blueberry farms everywhere.
Anyone ever notice the chemicals being sprayed from berry field cannons?
One can smell it miles away.
The weeds in the summer time have no problems growing one to two feet high, sometimes higher than my small trees.
Do people think they disappear by wishing they didn’t exist?
Yes, folks, it takes work, lots of work to keep land in shape.
Furthermore, it takes money for fertilizer, just bought a bag ( 55 pounds for $ 34.50), and how many experts think they can farm with a shovel and a rake?
Tractors and related equipment run into the thousands of dollars.
Maintenance repair calls can easy cost $500 to $1,000, per repair.
Has anyone ever noticed that most the farm work in Pitt Meadows is done by temporary labourers from other countries?
Perhaps some folks should check the help wanted ads in the local papers. You can get a job at $ 10.50 per hour on a farm, but you better be prepared to work your arse off to earn this kind of money.
Just one more comment: my old house in Vancouver, which I sold for $ 18,000 in 1968 is well worth over $1 million today. Talk about speculators.
Lance Felgnar
Pitt Meadows