Saskatchewan Government selling 7,000 acres of crown land

Online auction begins Oct. 23

By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com

Farmers in Saskatchewan looking to acquire more land will be able to purchase parcels of Crown land later this month.

Beginning on Oct. 23, Saskatchewan will hold an online auction to sell a total of 48 parcels of land spanning more than 7,000 acres.

The land for sale includes 315 acres in Biggar, 530 acres in Blaine Lake and 318 acres in Nipawin.

The auction is open to the general public but perspective landowners must meet certain criteria.

“Anybody who purchases land must be eligible under the (Saskatchewan) Farm Security Act,” Wally Hoehn, executive director, Lands Branch, Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, told Farms.com today. 

The parcels of land became available due to lease agreements ending. The Government puts the land through a review process to determine if any third parties are interested in leasing the land. When the Government concludes there’s no third party interest, the parcels are put up for sale, Hoehn explained.

The auction begins in just under two weeks, which gives interested owners an opportunity to visit some of the parcels and conduct land assessments, he added.

Bids will close in the first week of November.

But not all residents are supportive of the land sale.

Some people worry the transition of Crown land to private ownership could have negative impacts on wildlife.

“Losing (Crown land), if it’s put under the plough, you’ll see a collapse of a lot of the (animal) species in the area,” Phillip Brass, a local hunter from near Balcarres, Sask., told CTV News yesterday.